WEBVTT - Financial Hype Woman Berna Anat 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:01.920 Hey, hey, hey ba fam. 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:06.400 Please follow us on Apple Podcasts and keep our audience growing. 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:12.040 If your iPhone recently updated to iOS fourteen point five, 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.160 head to Apple Podcasts, search for Brown Ambition and click 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.400 on the plus button in the upper right hand corner. 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:23.200 Do that and you'll be following our show Loop Loop. 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.680 You can also follow us on Spotify, on Stitcher, or 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:30.840 on the Amazon Music app. You would not do all that, 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:32.720 you know, if you had to Android, but you know Apple, 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.480 that's fine. It's fine. And now onto our show. 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.680 Hey ba fam, Mandy. Here we continue this week with 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:59.240 our summer co host series. And I have to tell you, guys, 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.959 I have had the biggest social media crush on this 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.679 woman ever since I discovered her page and ig earlier 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.160 this year. And they say, don't ever meet your sheroes 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.600 because you may be disappointed. But this was such a 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.880 delightful conversation. You guys are going to laugh, you are 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.120 going to be inspired, and you are going to go 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.280 follow at hay Burna on all social media channels because 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:26.640 you are going to love her, I hope as much 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:29.199 as I do. So let me get to the point 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.880 here and introduce today's guest co host, her name is 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:37.160 Berna Annette. Berna is an award winning financial hype woman. 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:41.000 Yes that is a title, Let's manifest it, which is 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.800 basically her made up way of saying that she creates 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:47.480 financial education media that lives at at hay Burna all 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:51.680 over the Internet. After Berna slayed her fifty thousand dollars 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:54.600 of debt, she saved up to quit life and has 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.360 been traveling the world trying to make money fun again 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.440 ever since. Berna is actually joining us today despite the 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:03.800 fact that she is in what she calls a book 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:07.160 writing cave. Yeah, she is working on her very first book, 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:11.840 fourteens and young adults about slaying their own personal finance challenges. 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:13.840 I am thrilled, So let me get out of the 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:17.320 way of myself and get to this interview. Here is 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:23.720 your co host for the week, Berna Annatt. Hey, Berna, Hi, Mandy, this. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.520 Is so wild, Like I feel the same. 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:29.760 I mean, Brown Ambition was my first favorite financial podcast. 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:32.040 It still is. It's still the one that I recommend 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.679 to people. And people are like, what's your most You're fit. 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.040 I'm like, everyone's just stop talking. It's brand Ambition and 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:38.720 that's the end of the sentence. And so it's so 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.200 wild that like, eventually, in a couple of days, I'll 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.600 be hearing my voice. You just said my voice. That's 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:46.919 so wild. I'm so, so so honored to be here. 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.919 Well, hey, Berna, so Berna, you describe yourself as a 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.600 financial hype woman, which I'm so jealous of because that 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.960 has got to be the best title in the history 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.000 of personal influencers. What do you mean when you say 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:02.399 you're a hype woman? What does that mean? 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:05.120 Oh, my gosh, that's completely made up, first of all, 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:08.360 and so that should be just inspiration to anyone of 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.520 any age that you can totally make up your job 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:13.200 and just kind of if you bring it and fake 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:15.480 it till you make it, eventually cool people will ask 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.320 you to be on their podcast and they'll they'll say 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:18.720 the words, even if you just made it. 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:22.239 Up, it's a career, And suddenly it's a career. 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.919 It very difficult to explain to my immigrant parents what 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.120 that is, so they just think I work in money 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.639 and communications. But financial hype woman is something I made 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:33.760 up a few years ago because hype is one of 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.280 the things I thought was missing from the financial world. 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:38.560 So that's one reason I was like, I want more. 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:40.600 I want there to be more joy, more hype, and 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:45.440 by hype, I mean energy, happiness, excitement, especially like there 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.840 are no trumpets or foghorns that play when you do 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.360 exciting financial things. A lot of these things that we 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.360 do in our financial lives typically happen in like a dark, 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.720 sad corner of the internet, or like us hunched over 0:03:57.760 --> 0:03:59.720 our phones. And so I wanted to bring hype and 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.960 excitement so you feel encouraged to do things. And if 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.160 you think about a high woman on stage, typically a 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:09.760 high person on stage, they are behind the main performer 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.280 or rapper or singer, and they're just like they're the 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:15.160 person that's just bringing the energy while the artistic person's 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.960 doing the art. And that's how I want people to 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.240 envision me in their financial lives. Like you're the one 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:24.440 in the front seat of your financial life. You're doing 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:26.800 the earning and the paying and the bill paying and 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:28.880 the goals. And I just want people to imagine me 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.599 in the back, like you're just like repeating things and 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:34.159 dancing behind you in the back, like I'm keeping your 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.960 energy yup, Like my purpose is to keep your energy up. 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.200 And that's what I want to bring to the money world. 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:40.880 I don't know how you have the stamina to do 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.160 what you do on Instagram. If you guys don't follow Berna, 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.000 you have to go to at hey Berna on ig. 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.400 I mean your comedic, your physical comedy is something truly 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:53.000 special and the time, cause I know it's not always 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.000 easy to you can be funny, but you tell stories 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.760 with your humor, and you have a whole there's like 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.159 a beginning, middle, and end to your Instagram content. And 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.440 I know how much time and energy and thought must 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.039 go into it. It is quite effective. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:08.359 My thank you, thank you so much. 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.160 I found out that people really like it when I shake, 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:15.400 I shake something for their financial wins, do a little 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:17.920 bout chirking with what I got, which is not a ton, 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.839 but I think people appreciate the effort. I know all 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:24.119 of my you and all of my other Internet creators 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.240 out there understand that, like you have to sort of 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.039 try out a bunch of different things and a bunch 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:30.320 of different approaches to find what hits with your audience. 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:33.520 And people love it when I. 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.440 Make up dance move so their financial wins and so 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:37.480 that's probably the most entertaining thing you'll see on their 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.719 aside from other like storytelling and videos and things like that. 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:42.719 I like to move. I like to bring the bodily 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:43.520 energy into it. 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.360 I'm getting older now, I'm just wondering, have you ever 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:48.400 like thrown it back out a back like you have 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.800 more than one thrown anything out first to something. 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:53.200 I'm approaching that for sure. 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.880 I will, especially on weeks where I'm like, I haven't 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:58.760 worked out for a long time, which, mind you, is 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:02.520 most weeks. I'll do like my Friday financial wins, and 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.880 all week and long, I'm like, I am so sore 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.520 my thighs, my legs, my knees, like I try to 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:11.039 do the Meg the Stallion knee kind of tricks and 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.520 what you see on camera, I look like I know 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.520 what I'm doing, but no that immediately after that fifteen 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:16.880 seconds cuts out, I'm on the floor. 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.240 It's all for It's all for you. You know, it's 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:20.000 all for the the. 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:23.160 Audience, don't don't. I mean, leg Day is very important. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:27.800 Meghan the Stallions an athlete. Don't tell me nothing any differently, Okay, 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.840 athlete truly and truly. And we have been obsessed with 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.960 her latest song, what's it called thought Something? My son loves? Wow, 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.200 my son loves to dance. When that song came on YouTube, 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:40.680 I mean, I don't know how appropriate it was for 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.400 he wasn't paying attention to the pictures, but he and 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.719 I got down. He loves to tork. He's such a 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:47.720 cute little show off. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.800 Good it's leg she's leg day insfo and she's full 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.200 body inso for anybody. But I think everyone's now paying 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:55.040 so much more attention to what their knees than thighs 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.919 can do and admiring their bodies for doing those things 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.760 because of Megan the Stallion, Like she just revolutionize the 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:02.240 way I look at my knees for sure. 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:04.600 Yeah, I mean as someone who grew up. I mean 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.920 I'm biracial. My mom is white, and I've told her 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:09.000 this before. She knows and she might actually be listening 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.520 to the podcast, So yay, mom, I'm talking about you again. 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.240 But there were times when I was younger where she 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.800 would say, like, do you really want to work out? 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.520 Your thighs are already? You know you've got the thighs 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.240 and you know you don't want them to get bigger? 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.080 Do you meet? But that's the beauty standard, right, I'm 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.200 not trying to make this an episode about body image, 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.040 but shout out to shout out to anyone trying to 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:33.040 break norms and make us thick girls, you know, just 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:35.160 feel like we don't have to change a damn thing, 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:35.960 you know what I mean? 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.640 Absolutely not only do not have to change it, but 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.240 you can embrace it and shake it and show off 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.040 what it is capable of. And that's something that people 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:44.840 can look at and be like, wait, mine can do 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:46.520 that too, We can do that, we can go outside 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:46.960 and do that. 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:49.600 Absolutely, it just like turned it, It turned it all on. 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:53.200 I mean, what I love to see is like Meg 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:55.160 thee Stallion and every other performer out there being like, 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:57.280 look what my knees on my butt can do, and 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.840 people just like bowing down to her in the comments 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.120 being like not only incredible lyricsist, rapper performer, but like 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.280 she has to be putting extra work behind her. 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:08.120 Thighs and her legs. 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.000 And then we're so much more appreciative of the muscle 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.040 of the curve of everything that's there because I'm like, 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:16.239 if I have more, I can shake more and mixes. 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:16.880 It's a good thing. 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.160 So and it's the work behind it. And I think 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.200 what attracts me to your work so much and what 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.040 I try to what I try to think about in 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:26.040 my own content or my own you know, just being 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.000 myself on social media is I just love people who 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:32.720 are not afraid to be silly, not afraid to put 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.840 themselves out there, not afraid to not take themselves so seriously, 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.760 but who still do the work. And I do feel like, 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.000 especially in the personal finance where all they're in you know, 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:45.160 corporate America, when you talk about finance, it's often a 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.120 you feel like you need to put on a different 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.400 hat or use a different voice or like code switch 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.000 to have those conversations. But I think what's so amazing 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.160 about what you do is by being so approachable, by 0:08:55.160 --> 0:09:00.520 being so lovable and so freaking entertaining your immediately showing 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.280 people this doesn't have to be all serious and doom 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.560 and gloom like it can be hilarious. We can laugh 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:08.880 at it, we can say the things, we can talk 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.160 about our debt, and then we can twork about it 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:12.439 and we can do the work at the end of 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:12.800 the day. 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:16.600 Yes, absolutely, for people like me who' by that I 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:19.160 mean people who are basically like fifteen to seventeen years 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.680 old in the inside and always will be, it has 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.360 to be hilarious. It has to be funny or else 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:26.440 it just it won't go down the same way. You know, 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:29.000 we know all the books and the podcasts and the 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:31.960 blogs that spell it out and have all the information, 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.280 but I found myself needing to translate those things for myself. 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.240 Like when I was learning how to get out of 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:39.040 debt and reading. 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:42.400 The books and all the things, I found myself literally going, Okay, 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:44.600 what they mean by that sentence is if you just 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:46.120 like put your booty on the thing and you roll 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:46.800 it around, it's like. 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:47.720 When you're on the dance floor. 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.679 Like translating it into everyday stupid thing so that I 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.599 could understand it. And then I realized I can't be 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:55.200 the only one whose brain works like this. If I 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:57.480 start sharing it, maybe people are into it. And I 0:09:57.520 --> 0:09:59.520 found that there's a space for that. There's a space 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.080 for the serio stuff, but there's also a space for 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.040 us in our children who like need to play with 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.080 money in order to really connect with it. 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.520 Yeah, well, talk to me about your background financially. I mean, 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:12.960 I know you had some credit card debt, some student 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:16.679 loan debt, not unlike most millennials. I'm assuming you're a millennial. 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:18.360 Maybe you're as a millennial. I don't know. 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.360 I'm a think I'm like borderline millennial as allennial. Someone 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.079 told called me Jerry Actric the other day. I was like, 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:24.160 you know, whatever it is. 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:28.720 I'm still I think I'm actually a Jeriactric millennial, which, 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:30.720 you know, whatever, I'll take it. But talk to me 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:32.600 about your journey. When did it start for you? You 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.640 were at Instagram before. You've been producing and doing entertainment 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:38.680 media for a while, right, So everyone's got that moment 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:42.000 when they say I want to make this my life's 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:44.960 work to talk about money and educate people. What was 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:45.640 that like for you? 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:47.400 Yes, Oh my gosh. 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.079 So I've been in kind of media my entire life. 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:51.680 I grew up wanting to be a writer. I wanted 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.000 to be the editor in chief of a magazine, and 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.679 I like moved, you know, graduated from a journalism school 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.040 and I moved to New York and I internet a magazine. 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:03.120 Hated it, hated it with a capital age. Still, though, 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:06.280 you know, you find yourself postgraduation, especially. 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:07.040 In journalism and media. 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:11.440 You're young, you're doing internships, broke as heck, and I 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.760 found myself a couple of years of being freelance after 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:17.920 leaving magazines, twelve thousand dollars in credit card debt and 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:21.880 thirty eight thousand dollars about forty thousand dollars in student 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:26.760 loan debt, and I had sort of always written off 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.480 the excuse that, like, you know, I'm freelance, I'm in journalism, 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:31.160 I'm broke, I'm young, I don't have to get my 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:33.720 stuff together. What was really behind that was like a 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.920 lot of fear, a lot of shame, never wanting to 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.800 admit how much debt I had, and never wanting to 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:43.200 look my debt in the eye. And basically, you know, 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:45.520 I did end up getting a job at Instagram, moving 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.040 back to the Bay Area where I'm from, and that 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.000 was maybe a half step where I was like, Okay, okay, 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.800 I'm starting to get money every other Friday, which is 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:55.400 like what I think, it's an adult thing to do. 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.240 And now this feels like God being like you no 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:00.880 longer have no excuse to budget. I'm giving you money 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:01.840 every other Friday. 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:02.920 Do the thing. 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.400 Think, Hey, I hit the Googles. Because you know, growing 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:12.679 up again first gen immigrant child of immigrants from the Philippines, 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.800 they taught me very little about money taught me lots 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.160 about like our culture and everything, but very little about money. 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:19.920 And so everything I learned about money, I had to 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.000 hit the Googles, just like millennials do when we don't know. 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:24.840 Something, we hit the Googles as hard as possible. 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:30.120 And I was learning stuff through blogs and YouTube channels 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.280 and books, and I started to create this thing that 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:37.800 I called Felicia's Wallet. Now, at the time, by Felicia 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.280 was at its peak, my peak fit cultural phenomenon. Everyone 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.599 was like by Felicia, by Filicia. And someone said something about, like, 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.200 I'd love to see Felicia's passport because she's always saying by, 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:48.800 Like we're always saying by to her. She must be 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:50.760 going all over the place. And I was like, I'd 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:53.240 like to see her wallet. How is she affording to 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:56.120 say by all the time. So I started this like 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.040 blank Google document where I put down everything I was 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:01.640 learning about budgeting, everything I was learning about how to 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:05.080 balance and figure out my paycheck, all of my financial moves. 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:06.960 Every other Friday when I got my paycheck. I called 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:10.000 that document Felicia's Wallet. I didn't show it to anybody 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:12.200 for a long time, and then eventually I was like 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.240 let's just if I just kind of talk about it 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:16.840 on my social media, which had no kind of following 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:17.440 for anything. 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:19.360 Let's just see what happens. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.079 I posted about the document. I remember it's like a 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.360 boomerang of me scrolling through it. And the response to 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:29.200 that was huge. And it wasn't just from my friends 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:33.400 and family being like whoa budgeting money? You're talking about 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.880 out loud and like you haven't exploded, that's crazy, like 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.920 you broke the taboo, against the rules, But it was 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.040 also such a huge response from so many people that 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.120 I didn't know, and especially so many women of color 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.200 up in my comments and like most notably whispering in 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.360 my dms, like you're a stranger, but you're the first 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.599 person I've ever seen who is a woman and a 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.760 woman of color to talk about your personal money life, 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.319 admit that you have did out loud, say that you've 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:01.360 been messing up for many months. 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:02.640 But here's that you're what you're learning. 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:04.760 You're the first person in my life to actually talk 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:06.719 about this, and it's changing my perspective. 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.680 And that's when I was like, we got some something. 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:13.560 There's something A little old me knowing nothing but no 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.800 financial background, yells from my corner of the Internet, and 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:18.520 the response was such an echo. 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:20.880 That's when I was like, Okay, we got we gotta 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:21.520 take this somewhere. 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.320 We got to take it somewhere. How do you go 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.640 from that to now you're writing a personal finance book? 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:29.280 What happened in between? And also, congratulations, this is when 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.520 I dropped that little nugget you you're going to be 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:32.520 a published author. 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.480 I have a much others so wild because this was 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.080 the beginning, Like, this is what I wanted to be 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.000 when I was super little, a writer, an author, and 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.000 it's been a very long, windy road to get here. 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:46.560 But basically, once I started sharing about Felicia's wallet, I 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:48.520 got the response from people. Then I was like, okay, 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.520 all right, this is a thing. I started making videos, 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:55.920 started making content, discovered something called Instagram, honestly discovered like Instagram, boomerang, 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.120 start shaking my butt for people, and we just started 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.160 to build more and of a community online of people 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.440 who wanted to talk about money, wanted to talk about 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.480 the absolute basics of money, but didn't want it to 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.280 be what I like to say, Hella mail, Hella pale, 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:11.960 and Hella stale, so much of what you see out 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.440 there is Hella Mail, Hella Pale, Hella Stale, and. 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:16.840 So I just sort of built this gathering on people 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:17.520 who were sick of that. 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:22.680 And the book came about last year when I partnered 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:23.480 up with an agent. 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:24.960 Her name is Tavia from Bioda. 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.320 She's incredible other women of color who champions all people 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.160 of color artists I wanted to. I brought her on 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.840 to sort of level up and help me manage like 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.840 brand partnerships and things like that. And she's the one 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.200 that was like, hey, this publishing house wants to do 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:43.840 a money book for young people. You're basically a teenager 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:45.480 walking around with paychecks. 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.320 Want to you do the thing? And that's that's where 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:48.640 we are. 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.880 And oh my god, Mandy, my first draft is due 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.720 in like a month, almost a month exactly, so I'm 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:56.720 losing my issue. 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:58.480 A little bit. Supposed to be here right now, right like, 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:00.000 I'm not even what are you talking about? 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:01.640 I feel good? 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.320 You're manny, Are you kidding? This is brown ambition. I 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.320 was just telling you right before we started recording that 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:09.520 I'm in. I put myself in this thing called book. 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:11.680 Leave quote unquotes. I've been this like book cave. 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.200 I wanted to focus on writing my book and make 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:18.160 my book writing process really fun, really enjoyable, like lean 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:21.680 on my savings and actually give myself the time to 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.480 make the process really fun. And I promised myself I 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:26.400 would not come out of book leave unless it was 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:31.000 like showstopper, incredible opportunity. And I remember you emailed me, 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:32.480 I want to say, like a couple of months ago, 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:34.760 and I brought this. I have a business coach. I 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:36.120 brought this to my business coach and I was like, 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:36.720 this sick. 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:38.600 This is what I want to come out of booklye for. 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.680 She was like, okay, I give my blessing. 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:45.160 Yeah wow where business coach approved. Well, I hope this 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.040 is well. I'm so glad to have you here. But 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.480 I'm also so you know, Tiffany just had a really 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:52.080 successful book launch. And I told her. I was like, 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.640 this is you know, obviously she was wildly successful, but 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.280 I said, the reason why I feel so excited about 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:01.720 Tiffany's success is that I know others will benefit from 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.080 her success. You know, it'll make publishers look at women 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.520 of color as really like money makers, you know, like 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.520 a good business decision. And ultimately that has been often 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.040 the excuse in this, you know, in the business world, 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.760 is like, oh, do women sell? Do women of color sell? 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.240 Should we put you on the cover? Will people be 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.600 turned off when they see it's by a woman? I mean, anyway, 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.160 there's a whole history of like women changing their names, 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.840 writing under pen names, so they'd be taken seriously. And 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.639 I am so excited. I wish you nothing but the 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.000 most success. I want to know. So you said for 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:37.480 young people, So what is the target audience for this 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.480 book that you're writing, because I don't think we'd there 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.119 hasn't really been a lot of books for like teens 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:45.440 from someone who you know, I know you're not technically 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:47.160 you when you say you're fifteen years on the inside, 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.880 but you know we're a little mature now. But yeah, 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:51.360 well yeah, that's the target audience. 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:54.760 It's so funny because the target audience technically this is 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.240 a HarperCollins young adult book, and the official on paper 0:17:58.280 --> 0:17:59.520 target audience. 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:00.920 Is like six team to twenty five. 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.240 Okay, but I know, like my content from the beginning, 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.280 had I meant to always be talking to teens about money. 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:10.720 The thing though, about talking about money, especially when you 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:14.280 talk in like a relatable voice is you unlock the 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.080 fact that most of us, especially in the US, especially 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:21.600