WEBVTT - Ep 285: Afrominimalism Might Save Your Finances With Christine Platt 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.800 Hey, hey, hey, we're back. 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:25.919 We're black, we're brown and ambiton. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:34.159 Hey manma come through baritone the lower register. Well, we 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:37.000 are praying that your internet let us do this episode, 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:38.000 come on Optimum. 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:42.200 I just I don't know what to do, honestly, I 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:45.240 uh ba fam if you because where I live in Newark, 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.400 they're literally the only game in town. And for some reason, 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:50.120 it's just been going in and out. I literally bought 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:52.720 a brand new router, a brand new modem, all the 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:55.600 things I've had tech come out three times, I've tweeted, 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:57.040 I don't know what to do? 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.240 You know, and this is a social justice is you? 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.840 It is a humanitarian crisis. It is a civil rights issue. 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:05.720 We need our internet. 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.200 Yeah, I just you know, we need especially now more 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:09.880 than ever we did our internet. So I'm honestly, I 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.320 don't I'm not sure like what to do. I mean, 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:15.840 I'm gonna call them again and be like, uh please, 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:18.480 somebody something so we shall see. 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:21.720 So have you been Oh. 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:22.399 I've been great. 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.200 I just celebrated my five months of being a freelancer, 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:31.160 being an entrepreneur, which is cool. Ways already, I know, 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:32.920 I was doing the math and I was like, surely 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.720 not five months of having a human took a lot 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:40.039 longer than five months of being an entrepreneur. Yeah, five 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.639 whole months. And I have a I have a meeting 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.800 with Well, Me and husby have a session with my 0:01:45.880 --> 0:01:49.120 dear dear financial planner Helen tomorrow too. And it's our 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:52.680 first call since the call we had when she was like, 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.240 you should just go independent, and I said, you make 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.160 it sound so easy, and then I did it. So 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.560 it's kind of a touch base. And you know, I 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:02.200 don't know what we're going to talk about in particular, 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.960 but she'll probably want to look at my cash flow 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:08.920 and how things are going, and I'm. 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:10.520 Yeah, it's it's been. 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:13.000 It's been a good I kind of was like into 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.440 my fields last night about it because I feel like 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.040 I've done really damn well for five half in business. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.960 First of all, you were number one trending on CNBC. Okay, yeah, 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:22.920 I still got it. 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.840 A yeah, I was out of the girl. It's so crazy. 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:29.360 My friend Cabrel texts me. He was like, isn't this 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.959 your friend, Mandy, She's on my phone. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:35.160 No. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.280 I feel like the little kid's sister who goes to 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:46.480 college after their big sister who was like Valedictorian. Yeah, 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.959 it's been really freakin fantastic and I have Yeah, so 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:51.760 I'm excited to talk to Helen. And I've just been 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.480 kind of I'm kind of approaching my whole business kind 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.840 of quarterly, and my first quarter was like is this 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.400 even a thing? And it definitely is. So for the 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.800 last few months of this year, I'm actually trying to 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.360 slow slow down. I'm trying to take in less work 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.920 because it's been like just pouring in and actually focus 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.799 on investing time into something that hopefully will pay off. 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:15.320 But I have to really spend the time to do 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:18.000 it and then hopefully I can launch it towards the 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:22.359 end of the year. So big things popping. But it's 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:23.600 been a fun ride. What about you. 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:28.320 Honestly, it's been like it's been really good over here. 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.560 I mean we have been I've been making the transition 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:36.160 from like, you know, I don't know, a personality brand. 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:37.800 I mean we always I've always had like a business 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.280 behind the scenes, but we had some real opportunities to 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.440 like quadruple business. 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:46.280 If we buckle down and do the necessary work. 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.960 So like we're totally overhauling the Literature Academy and as 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:51.840 a result, if we do like I we always do 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.520 projections for the year, like we should be you know, 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.800 like potentially just under twenty million dollars next year and 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:00.200 then fifty in the next three years if we do 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.040 what we're supposed to do. But none of that is 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.760 like instagrammables, you know what I mean, Like I had 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.960 to the transition for me has been difficult in reminding 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:12.080 myself like although you know, social media and things can 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.800 be fun, that I have to be mindful that, you know, 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.080 I want to put things in place where you know, 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.680 I all this work has been for something, you know 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.320 what I mean. So just making those transitions, they are 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:26.919 like a lot of behind the scene things that have 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.480 nothing to do with like you know, external stuff that 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.200 like we're really putting into place and buckling down to 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:38.400 be like a business business business, and so it's just exciting. Yeah, 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:40.800 And so that's what's been happening. It's just been a 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.880 lot of We've been a lot of growing up in business. 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:46.880 Like so I can literally feel like, oh, this is 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:47.840 the next level for us. 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:49.359 So so yeah. 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.320 But I know we have what is that I just 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:53.640 wanted to share. There's this quote that we actually shared 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.240 on our social from MICHAELA. Coles. She was the woman 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:58.880 who just won an Emmy. I think she was the 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:00.760 first black woman or a black person ever to win 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:02.800 an Emmy for writing of a series. She wrote the 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.800 series This May Destroy You, And one of her viral 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:09.080 quotes from that acceptance speech was, do not be afraid 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.200 to disappear from it, from us for a while and 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:16.039 see what comes to you in the silence. And she 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.640 really was speaking to like, get the f off social 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.000 media and go do the damn thing. 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.480 So I'm telling you what I tell you, Like that's 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.480 six weeks away that I took and then consequently not 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.839 coming back to social media like full time. I have 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.000 not been really back. I took all the apps off 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.279 my phone. I only put it on when I go live. 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:34.800 Then I take them off again and I let the 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.480 team do their posting. It has done more for business 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:43.160 for me than anything else. And so I encourage people 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.400 to take a moment. Don't get me wrong, Like our 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.440 engagement is not as high as it was. But I 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.839 had to tell my team today honestly, I don't care because. 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:55.719 That doesn't pay the bills, you know what I mean? 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:59.039 Like it does it not in a concrete way like 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:00.599 what we're going to be able to do as a 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.240 result of the choices that we're making now. It is 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.359 transformative for my team, it is transformative for the women 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.840 that we serve. It's transformative for myself and my family. 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.760 It's transformative for our community. It's just like the things 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.560 that we're doing now because we have the space to 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.080 do it. I'm just excited about It's just the next 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.080 phase of business. Like you know, we're officially going to 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:24.320 go from small to medium sized business to like a 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.320 business business. Like you know, we we have the potential 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.360 to be nine figures, you know, if we focus, which 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.320 we are. And so yeah, don't be afraid to take 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.640 the step back. Everything is not social medium, you know. 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:41.000 Once you learn that you don't need the external applause, 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.359 you know, then you can navigate differently and navigat in 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:45.520 a way that's more meaningful. 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.640 Absolutely. Well, I'm excited for you. I know all the 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.360 hard work you're doing in the background. Well no, I don't, 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:53.560 cause you keep it under wraps. But anyway, I know 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:55.400 you're out there working and walking and listening to your 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.640 audio books and getting the damn thing done. 0:06:58.560 --> 0:06:58.839 Well. 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.279 We have speaking of books, we have an exciting guest today. 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.360 Yeah, so you met our guest today, Christine Platt, at 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.279 a book signing, because you know, that's just how a 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.400 normal tuesday for you, signing your best selling book. But no, 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.520 I'm so excited because Christine Platt is our guest today 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.840 and she is called the Afro Minimalist, and her new 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.400 book is literally a blueprint for anyone looking to cut 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.920 back on the things that we are over consuming, you know, 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.440 letting pile up in our homes, in our spaces that 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.480 are just stifling us and stifling our growth. And she's 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:34.200 got some really fun gems to share. 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:36.880 Yeah, so you guys are gonna enjoy Christine. 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:40.800 Well, shall we take a little breaky break, and we'll 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.600 come back with our guest today, Christine, And definitely check 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:45.680 the show notes and you can find where to follow her, 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.720 where to get her book again, The Afrominimalist, and how 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:50.960 to catch up on all of her amazing advice. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.800 We told you we were coming back with somebody amazing 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:07.880 we have with us, Christine Platt, a k a. The 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.160 Afro Minimalists. Okay, Oh you didn't know black people could 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.640 be minimalists? Oh you know, yeah, everybody, everybody doesn't want 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:16.679 the you know, the Grandma field House with the plastic 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.480 furniture and the chachkis everywhere. 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.280 Some people, you know, they thrive with lesson. 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:33.200 Yes, So I just so you like, I met Christine 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:37.720 in person anyway, for the first time at Mahogany Books, 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.160 and that is National Harbor. 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.000 Christine, is that DC or is that Maryland? 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:45.120 Is technically oxen Hill, Maryland, but you know we claim 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:45.600 it in DC. 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:50.400 So and so we met at this amazing black bookstore 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:53.920 called Mohockey Books. They were having a book bookstore opening. 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:57.160 Shout out to Ramanda and your amazing husband. It just 0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:59.480 we just really clicked and we just got to talking. 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:01.000 And now I was like, you need to come on 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.120 the podcast, and yeah, you know. 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.959 I'm so happy to be here. Thank you both for 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:08.200 having me. I'm so excited. 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.400 Absolutely, I'm excited to meet you too. And I think 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:13.600 even just Tiffany when she came back from that book 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.280 signing that y'all did together, she was just gushing about you. 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.880 And then we couldn't stop talking about the connection between 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.680 your idea of afrominimalism and minimalism in general and how 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:26.680 it relates to finances. So I would love to just 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.240 have you describe or like define what do you mean 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:32.319 by afrominimalism. And for those of you who haven't ever 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:36.200 seen Christine, she's literally like a minimalist with no afro, 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:39.679 just a delightful you have a perfectly shaped head for 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:44.160 the shape dome you beautiful. But tell us something. 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:51.400 It's a teeny weeny afro. Okay, it's there, microfro, yes, microfro, 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.600 minimalist fro. Yeah it was. It was wonderful meeting Tiffany 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:58.600 in person at Mahogany Books, and I think it's I 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:01.480 just want to shout us both. We are both number 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.520 one and number two in sales at that store. So 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.760 I think it speaks volumes to you know, people's interest 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:14.880 in finances and you know their over consumption right now. Uh, afrominimalism, 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.920 it's really just my approach to minimalism, which is a 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:23.560 minimalist lifestyle influenced by the African diaspora. I am a 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.800 historian and lawyer by trade, and you know the history 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.960 of black folks is really important to me. I love 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:35.280 the beauty and culture of the African diaspora, and so 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:40.280 I weave that into my approach to minimalism, which at 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.280 the time, so this is about five years ago when 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:47.360 I first like really honed in on this approach, it 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:51.400 was very unconventional, right. I think people think of minimalism 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:56.440 number one, it evokes this idea of scarcity and lack, right, 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:00.480 But even more than that, it's devoid of color, it's 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:03.360 devoid of texture, it's devoid of culture. 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:05.960 Right. Yeah. 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:09.240 Yeah, it's like super Scandinavian and we are like not 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.880 in most of us are not in, you know, in 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:16.280 a country where you know that particular aesthetic. The reason 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:20.240 it works for you know, for for Scandinavian folks is 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:23.160 because they don't get a lot of sunlight, and so 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.680 they need a lot of light colors, a lot of 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:27.280 white walls to reflect light. 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:27.600 Right. 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:33.000 But yeah, and so you know, mainstream minimalism has sort 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:36.840 of taken on this aesthetic of you know, of just 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.600 being all white and barren, and I just really wanted 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.600 to to change the conversation around that, and so and 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:48.000 so here I am the afrominimalist. I wrote a book 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.839 to try and encourage folks to live with less and 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:54.719 that you know, I saw so many benefits and I 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.680 would say, like right out the gate the first benefit 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.800 that I saw where it was in my wallet, Right, 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:04.199 I was like, where's all this money coming from? Like, oh, 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:08.760 I'm not at the mall uh every weekend. And so yeah, 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:13.439 it's been very transformative for me and very exciting to 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:17.120 just see other people, you know, really embracing this and 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.360 really thinking about, you know, how can they live with 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.760 less their way? If the word minimalism, you know, if 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:28.360 it does evoke some negative feelings or you know, ideas 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:30.480 of scarcity, you don't have to be a minimalist. You 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.599 can live with less, you can be a more mindful consumer. 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:37.200 There are so many other ways to define this lifestyle 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:39.840 that that isn't so limiting for a lot of people. 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.320 So if I was somebody I'm listening and I'm just like, 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.839 you're right, I probably never thought of myself a person 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:49.280 of color, you know, enjoying the minimalist lifestyle, you know, 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.880 because you know, I want some texture. I want some 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.800 color and some deep hues. So if I am like, oh, huh, 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:04.240 aside from getting your books, okay, everywhere, aside from getting 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.600 your book, what's like the first thing where I can 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:09.520 start where it doesn't feel so overwhelming? 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:12.720 Yes, Okay, So this is. I'm so glad you asked 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.560 that question, because so many people picked up the book 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.440 and they were like, I had my garbage bags ready, 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:22.880 I wasn't ready for the gentle dragging that happened. I 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.480 really encourage people to first learn about the psychology of 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:30.680 ownership before they even start to try and declutter. Right, 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:32.679 So this is where you hear so many people say, 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.320 I've tried this before and it didn't work. I've tried 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.520 this before and it didn't work. And that's because they 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.960 didn't get to the root causes of their over consumption. Right. 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.160 So much of this is inner work right before you 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.000 do the outer work. And I know even when it 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:51.640 comes to finances that that's the same sort of approach 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.280 for me. Right, it's like why am I so afraid to, 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:59.120 you know, make this call or manage my money this way, 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:02.080 or learn about that right, Like, there's usually some root 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:06.280 cause that is really the reason what I call like 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.040 the why behind the buy or the why behind the spend. Right, 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.120 Because if you don't do the inner work, if you 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.800 don't understand the psychology of ownership, specifically as it relates 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:21.240 to you and your spending habits, you're just gonna declutter 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.040 and find yourself back at square one. So when I 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.720 talk about the psychology of ownership, that means first of all, 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:31.560 understanding why you have so much more than you need, 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:35.760 and then secondly understanding why it's so hard to let go, right, 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.840 because we all have attachments to things and getting to 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:43.080 the root cause of like why am I so attached, 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:45.800 you know, to this piece? So that's where you can start. 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.280 You mentioned the diaspora, I mean, are like have you 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:51.680 found in your research or in your book? Do you 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.520 do you examine how? Because I mean I think anecdotally. 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.720 I just visited my aunt Brenda, and I don't the 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:02.760 things that she saves, I just don't know. I just 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:06.200 don't understand. I mean, dusty old toys. And she had 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.840 like an old Barbie doll that was a cowboy from 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:12.680 maybe nineteen ninety seven or something like that. Anyway, and 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.440 it wasn't even a black Barbie doll. That was nothing. 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:19.880 But what is this something that black households or African 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:23.000 American households are just more inclined to hang on to things? 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:23.440 Was it? 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:27.320 You know? You know, that's a that's a good question. 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.480 So I think it's twofold, right, So when we talk 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:35.120 about people of the diaspora, particularly particularly African Americans, right, 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.480 so many of us are first time everything, right, first 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:43.640 time homeowners, first time six figure income owners, first you know, 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.160 first one in our you know, in our family to 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.680 have an opportunity to own a business. Right. So many 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.240 of us are first time so many things. And what 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:56.560 happens is that we don't have that sort of generational 0:15:56.640 --> 0:16:01.320 knowledge and awareness that comes when you're not first gen Right. 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.800 The second thing is like, we just have a completely 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:12.440 different relationship with ownership. It's just a fact, right, So 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.560 many of us it is the first time we're able 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:19.200 to acquire a lot of things. And I find that 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.800 in particularly Black families, right, it really goes back to 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.360 our childhood. It really grows goes back to if you 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.680 grew up with scarcity, right, or if you grew up 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:32.840 you know, not being able to have certain things. And 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.520 a lot of those promises that we make to ourselves, 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.520 make to ourselves as children, we are very committed to 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:40.880 as adults. 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:41.320 Right. 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.000 One of the examples that I provide in the book 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.840 is actually my ex husband, who is a huge sneaker head, 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:56.000 and he shared how when he was in high school 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:00.000 his family would not, you know, like most black families 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:04.040 could not afford the first pair of Jordan's, and instead 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.840 his parents bought him a pair of knockoffs. I did laugh, 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:10.639 I'm not gonna lie because the silhouette of Michael Jordan, 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.840 there was another person like blocking Michael Jordan, and I 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.840 just thought about, like how horrible the teasing was. He 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:21.159 said it was relentless, and he made a promise to 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.280 himself when he got older that he was going to 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:28.480 buy however many pairs of sneakers he wanted, and he 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.639 counted and like the majority, let's say there were like 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:36.199 sixty pairs, forty two of them were Jordan's, right, So 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.480 like getting to that root cause. And then I also 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:43.200 want people to think about Mandy the idea that it's 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:46.720 not just you know, we think shoes, we think purses, 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.960 we think handbags, but it impacts us in so many 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:55.080 different ways. My friend's husband when he washes the dishes, 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.399 he likes to use a lot of dishes that like 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.760 the bubbles are overflowing out of the sink. And I would, 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.440 you know, if my friend would complain to me, and 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:05.840 I'd be like the girl he is washing the dishes 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.840 I don't understand why you complaining about these bubbles. And 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.520 she would just say, like, Christina is just so annoying, 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.000 and I just don't understand why he does it. And 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:17.080 I said, whatever you have? You ever asked him? And 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:19.719 she asked him, And you know what. He grew up 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:23.800 in the South, very poor, was raised by his grandmother. 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.640 Basically everything they purchased came from the dollar store, including 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.840 dish soap, and even then he could only use one drop. 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:34.800 And he told her, now that he's older and they 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.320 have the resources and means to buy whatever they want, 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.840 he buys the most expensive dish soap and he uses 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.720 as much as he wants, and he finally puts his bubbles. 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:45.760 I was going to guess that it was because, you know, 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.680 if you're broke, you take that one little inch left 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:50.680 over of the don dish soap and you add water water. 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.160 You need a bunch of homes, listen. 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:58.000 I mean when I don't, Oh my god, this is 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.600 Tiffany hate yo. 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:05.200 He hates it. He's always like, babe, we have soap. 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:07.280 I'm like wasted just a little. 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.000 I know, you know it is so you know, it 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.080 is so funny, Tiffany. I use a solid dish soap. 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:17.000 Because of course minimalism, you keep finding other ways, right, 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:19.680 like you start with your closet and then it transitions 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.359 into every air of your life. And even with the 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.199 solid soap, it comes in a little tin, you know, 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:27.240 like there'll be some water in there, and I'm like, oh, 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:31.080 let me just that's extra dish soap, Like I I don't, 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:32.800 I don't know what it is. But you know, if 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.760 I think back to my childhood, you know, even if 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.320 it wasn't dollar store dish soap, the dish soap that 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:41.720 we did use, it was like for dishes, it was 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:42.440 bubble bath. 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.320 It was it wasn't bubbled back. 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:49.600 I get hand soap in the My husband, Hey, he said, 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:51.520 did you put the hand soap in the or the 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:53.600 dish shap in the in the in the the hand 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:55.680 like so if you go on my half bath, if 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.520 if I'm like, where's I will put? I will squeeze 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:01.920 the dawn dish soap that when I tell you, Superman, 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:03.000 is this why black. 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:06.600 People were so ashy? Because we're secretly using don dish. 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:10.320 So clean hands or not? 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.040 You know what? I love that we're having this conversation 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:20.600 because we don't think back to how our childhood and 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.959 the things that we you know, we're accustomed to, like 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:28.960 Mandy saying like, no, y'all didn't use just Mandy, I'm 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.960 telling you it was it was it was bubble It 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.119 was bubble bath, right. And you know I am also 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:38.399 of the generation, and you have to think just age wise, 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.679 we we're not that far apart in age. They still 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:43.959 you know, like if there were four kids, like no 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:47.280 one was changing the bath water. M m hmm. You 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:51.200 see what I'm saying. So like if you come from 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:53.840 you know, that's sort of even if it doesn't feel 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:56.639 because it didn't feel like scarcity when we were younger. 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:58.920 It was just like, oh, it's a bubble bath, right, 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.600 But then you grow up and you're like, oh, they 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:06.840 make actual bubble back. So I didn't know, right, Like. 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:09.560 You know, kind of a jerk sometimes laughing at my 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:12.639 aunt when she like saves the wet paper towel after 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:14.560 she WAPs something up, and she just. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:16.439 Like, girl, I did not know. 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:19.479 We people threw away the foil pants because we had 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.080 to wash them out as kids, like you know, Thanksgiving, 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:24.200 the foil pants, Like we washed them out and you 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:26.159 use them until they got to be too disfigured, and 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.359 I'm like, so dressed on me. My husband's on me 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:29.760 washing it, and he's like, why are you washing out 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:30.320 the four pants? 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:32.560 I'm like, you these are expensive? 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:34.560 Yeah? 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:35.800