Speaker 1: Y'all pay attention. We have to wake up. There's still time.
Speaker 1: Contact your senators, contact your local representatives. Like I know,
Speaker 1: BA fam, like we we on the right side of history.
Speaker 1: But if you are in a you know, if you
Speaker 1: have an elected official who is on the fence or
Speaker 1: isn't sure how they're going to be voting, or hasn't
Speaker 1: indicated how they're going to be voting on this bill,
Speaker 1: our voices have to matter. We have to believe the theyme.
Speaker 1: So please reach out and contact your elected officials. Hey,
Speaker 1: ba Fam, it's Mandy Money. I just want to say
Speaker 1: Happy Friday. I'm trying to like get my breathing under
Speaker 1: control because your girl has been hacking all day. Why
Speaker 1: does it take so long to pack for just a
Speaker 1: four day trip. I'll tell you why. Actually, as I'm
Speaker 1: sitting here, I'm like, yeah, no shit, lady, you're going
Speaker 1: to see Beyonce. I am on my way to London.
Speaker 1: I'm going to see Beyonce. I'm breaking every rule they
Speaker 1: tell you to follow when you're about to travel, and
Speaker 1: you shouldn't tell people you're going to be leaving the country,
Speaker 1: like someone might come and steal your whole life while
Speaker 1: you're gone. Honestly, though, I dare you, I dare you
Speaker 1: to find No, I don't dare you, but low key
Speaker 1: I think it would be hilarious for someone to walk
Speaker 1: into my life with my baby's kids and my husband
Speaker 1: and my badass dog and walk promptly back out and
Speaker 1: be like, you know what she can have? That, yes,
Speaker 1: she really can have. I'm good. I'm good. Actually my
Speaker 1: life was perfectly fine before. Honestly, what do I have
Speaker 1: going on? I am gardening, I got this family, regular,
Speaker 1: regular life. I'm leaving a sink full of dishes, my
Speaker 1: bed isn't made. Type a's who are listening right now,
Speaker 1: I just want to apologize. Actually I should have prefaced
Speaker 1: this by saying trigger warning for my Type a's, but
Speaker 1: it's been a hell of a week. It's been a
Speaker 1: hell of a couple of weeks actually, and I just
Speaker 1: wanted to do a solo episode and just say hey
Speaker 1: and do a quick check in, make sure that y'all
Speaker 1: are good, that I'm not trying to do too much
Speaker 1: too fast, because I feel like in last I don't
Speaker 1: know how long has it been six months of me
Speaker 1: going solo, that I have really just been putting more energy,
Speaker 1: more brain power, more everything into Brown Ambition, And I'm
Speaker 1: as obsessed as ever with this show, with this community,
Speaker 1: with the work that I'm doing, and y'all are the
Speaker 1: reason why I get to do it. So I want
Speaker 1: you to know what's kind of going on and why
Speaker 1: it may feel like there's a lot of stuff happening
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I think because so much of
Speaker 1: the changes recently have been weeks months in the planning,
Speaker 1: and when everything was sort of like baked and it
Speaker 1: was time to go, I was just like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm sick of waiting. I just want to get shited
Speaker 1: out there. I want to move on. So I am
Speaker 1: really excited. The biggest change I'll probably notice is my
Speaker 1: new logo or my new cover art, cover art and logo,
Speaker 1: which was done by the brilliant Shirley Shirley Tea Designs.
Speaker 1: If you are looking for a web designer, surely's basically like,
Speaker 1: if you can think of any incredible woman of color
Speaker 1: led podcast out there right now, it's likely that Shirley
Speaker 1: did their website, did their branding. So think about Journey
Speaker 1: to Launch with Jamila Suffrant, think about Janice Torres from
Speaker 1: Jokio Dinero think about Nikayla Matthews from Side Hustle Pro,
Speaker 1: Shirley Shirley, Shirley shre even Chris Browning from Popcorn Finance.
Speaker 1: I believe he's worked with her before. So Shirley is
Speaker 1: that girl, truly, and she's a mama just like me
Speaker 1: of autumn kids, and yeah, she's struggling a lot, just
Speaker 1: like me, and I love working with her. And she
Speaker 1: was really great because I don't think I gave her
Speaker 1: anything to go off of as far as what I
Speaker 1: wanted for the new cover art, but I literally just
Speaker 1: gave her all of my pictures, told her what I
Speaker 1: liked and didn't like from the current brand, colors and
Speaker 1: the vibe I was trying to evoke, and that was it.
Speaker 1: And we, of course went through like a bunch of iterations,
Speaker 1: and then the iHeart team got involved and things take
Speaker 1: their time, But I'm really happy. Every time I I
Speaker 1: see the podcast cover, I'm like, oh, I'm home. It
Speaker 1: feels like I've been cycling through just placeholders for the
Speaker 1: past half a year, even more than that, and I'm
Speaker 1: just really proud of it. And I feel like it
Speaker 1: is exactly the personality I wanted to get across we
Speaker 1: don't have fun here that I am here for the
Speaker 1: Brown Girls. Black Girls especially like that it's a fun show.
Speaker 1: But we're going to like cover topics that are essential
Speaker 1: to our everyday life. So very excited about that. Thank
Speaker 1: you Shirley for making that happen. We also launched a Patreon,
Speaker 1: and you may also be wondering, wait, also a book
Speaker 1: club too. Yes, I know it's a lot and maybe
Speaker 1: too much too soon, so I'll slow down so that
Speaker 1: I can like catch all up on why and what
Speaker 1: and how it all works. So book club and Patreon,
Speaker 1: they're sort of interwoven. So first of all, the book club,
Speaker 1: anybody can be in the book club. You don't necessarily
Speaker 1: need to sign up for the Patreon to be in
Speaker 1: the book club, but you do need to sign up
Speaker 1: for the Patreon if you want to take advantage of
Speaker 1: like the live author q and as and like book
Speaker 1: club meetings that I want to have once a month.
Speaker 1: So if you want all that, I highly suggest signing
Speaker 1: up for the Patreon. There's a free version of the Patreon,
Speaker 1: and so if you just want to sign up for that,
Speaker 1: you should be good. But if you want to go
Speaker 1: level up to the paid Patreon, which is five bucks.
Speaker 1: Patreon sets a floor of at least three dollars four
Speaker 1: different tiers, So five bucks is what I settled on,
Speaker 1: and I wanted it to be something that's really affordable.
Speaker 1: I know times are tough right now and things are
Speaker 1: really uncertain, but at the same time, I'm packing it
Speaker 1: with value. I'm trying to give y'all everything I could
Speaker 1: possibly think of. So starting with one of my favorite
Speaker 1: perks of the Patreon is that every week when we record,
Speaker 1: or every time we record the Brown Table, you know
Speaker 1: where I've got some pals, We get together, we chat
Speaker 1: about the headlines and what's happening in our lives. I
Speaker 1: can give an audience link to my patreons to be
Speaker 1: a fan club, and y'all can click that link and
Speaker 1: you can literally be in the audience while we're recording.
Speaker 1: It's like having a backstage pass, so you can see
Speaker 1: us working through the topics. You can basically hear an
Speaker 1: entirely unedited version of the podcast. You can participate, so
Speaker 1: if you want to ask a question, we will go
Speaker 1: to that audience. Sometimes when there is an audience, I
Speaker 1: don't know who's going to show up. I hope you
Speaker 1: all show up. That would be cool, and y'all can
Speaker 1: ask your questions live, you can comment as we're chatting,
Speaker 1: and it'll just be fun. I almost kind of feel
Speaker 1: like an old episode of like Living Single or Fresh
Speaker 1: Prince of bel Air where you have like a live
Speaker 1: studio audience. That's the That's what I'm hoping it'll it'll
Speaker 1: be like. So if you want to get that benefit,
Speaker 1: you can join the Patreon five bucks a month. Of course,
Speaker 1: you're going to get bonus content, so I will anytime
Speaker 1: I've got extra content that wasn't able to squeeze into
Speaker 1: that week's episode, I'll be putting it up on Patreon.
Speaker 1: I'm going to be in the Patreon and there's a
Speaker 1: group chat there, chat with each other, you can chat
Speaker 1: with me, you can ask questions there. Come join the chat.
Speaker 1: You're gonna get, like I said, access to those virtual
Speaker 1: book club meetings and author q and as you're gonna
Speaker 1: get a virtual backstage pass to those live recordings behind
Speaker 1: the scenes content. You can also help me pick show
Speaker 1: topics every week. I want to make sure that I'm
Speaker 1: covering things that y'all care about, so whether it's what
Speaker 1: the heck is this big beautiful bill all about or
Speaker 1: you know, live streaming live coverage of like what did
Speaker 1: we think of all the looks from the BET Awards,
Speaker 1: from the NAACP Image Awards, like whatever's happening in pop culture.
Speaker 1: I want to be a part of that conversation with
Speaker 1: y'all in community. So come on down to Patreon. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna put a link in the show notes. But as
Speaker 1: far as the book club, I'm gonna let y'all know
Speaker 1: what the Oh wait, I didn't even tell you what
Speaker 1: the pick is yet. I mean I told you if
Speaker 1: you listened to the last episode, you know. But our
Speaker 1: first inaugural book Club pick is c Bo Campbell's sky
Speaker 1: Full of Elephants based on the feedback we've gotten just
Speaker 1: on the clips I've shared on social so far, y'all
Speaker 1: love this book, and I feel like y'all are just
Speaker 1: like me. Like you've read the book, you loved it,
Speaker 1: you've been dying to talk about it, and now you
Speaker 1: have an excuse to talk about it. So let's get together, y'all.
Speaker 1: If you want to learn more about sky Full of Elephants,
Speaker 1: go back and listen to my interview with the author's Campbell.
Speaker 1: What an incredible guy, such a cool story we get
Speaker 1: into his career. Also the premise, we go through the
Speaker 1: book and talk about sort of the plot and the
Speaker 1: main characters, but there's so much we did not get
Speaker 1: to dive into. So I'm excited to have Cibo come
Speaker 1: back to join us for the Brown Ambition book Club's
Speaker 1: first meeting, which will probably happen sometime in July, and
Speaker 1: then I'll be announcing the next book club pick sometime
Speaker 1: at the beginning of July as well. And if there's
Speaker 1: something that y'all want to see in the book club, like,
Speaker 1: if there's something that you're reading that you want to
Speaker 1: tell me about, please do. It doesn't have to be
Speaker 1: business or finance or career related. I love a novel,
Speaker 1: I love historical fiction. I love books that make you
Speaker 1: feel that help you escape, but then also have like
Speaker 1: a really core message and heart to it. So if
Speaker 1: that sounds like something that you are also into, I
Speaker 1: would love you to join the Brown Ambition book Club.
Speaker 1: All right, let me take a quick break and I'm
Speaker 1: going to come right back with more of this solo
Speaker 1: episode and I'll be right back. Bafam, hey ba fan,
Speaker 1: welcome back. I'm just sitting here trying to figure out
Speaker 1: how do people do solo episodes. I don't hate it, Actually,
Speaker 1: it's kind of helping me unpack my thoughts. So so far,
Speaker 1: we've covered the Patreon, We've covered the book club, We've
Speaker 1: caught up on the new cover art and logo for
Speaker 1: the show, and now I kind of want to talk
Speaker 1: about things that are happening in the news right now,
Speaker 1: because I, like y'all, feel like I'm drinking water from
Speaker 1: a fire hose and I just want to do a
Speaker 1: quick wu saw. Everyone, of course, is stressed out about
Speaker 1: this big, beautiful bill that will set it. Y'all know
Speaker 1: who I think Lovey Love is hilarious. Love called him
Speaker 1: Mango Mussolini. So I'm going to steal that mankle Musolini's
Speaker 1: new beautiful bill working its way. It is moving on
Speaker 1: to the Senate now, and all I'm going to say is,
Speaker 1: if you live in a state, or if you rely
Speaker 1: on Medicaid, if you rely on a Obamacare plan or
Speaker 1: a Medicaid plan, you need to be calling and contacting
Speaker 1: your representatives on the Hill because this bill will gut
Speaker 1: those programs and something like ten million Americans are going
Speaker 1: to be dropped from that healthcare coverage over the next
Speaker 1: ten years. If the bill has passed the way that
Speaker 1: it is. I'm not gonna lie. There's some stuff in
Speaker 1: the bill that I'm mad at at all, especially as
Speaker 1: a homeowner. One of the changes or a couple other
Speaker 1: things in the bill that pertain to homeowners. I mean,
Speaker 1: my husband and I just got our annual letter from
Speaker 1: our town saying that our house has been reassessed, and oh,
Speaker 1: what do you know, We've gained sixty two thousand dollars
Speaker 1: in property value in the last year, despite the fact
Speaker 1: that we haven't done a single thing to this house
Speaker 1: since twenty eighteen. So that makes no sense to me.
Speaker 1: And our tax bill is going to be even crazier
Speaker 1: than it already is. For my little three bedrooms, two
Speaker 1: and a half bath house, y'all would just move the
Speaker 1: property taxes twenty thousand dollars a year twenty thousand, and
Speaker 1: in fact, I think we've finally reached a point where
Speaker 1: our monthly property tax payment is more than the mortgage is,
Speaker 1: so that's super fun. So the tax bill that is
Speaker 1: working its way through Congress right now would actually increase
Speaker 1: the salt deduction. So salt deduction stands for state and
Speaker 1: local taxes. So basically right now, as a homeowner, I
Speaker 1: think we're capped. At first of all, I'm not a CPA.
Speaker 1: I'm definitely not your CPA. So I'm just giving you
Speaker 1: my everyday Mandy money with a little bit of financial
Speaker 1: knowledge and business journalism background. Take on the news. So
Speaker 1: take it with a pinch of salt. Please do your
Speaker 1: own research. But the salt deduction, it dictates how much
Speaker 1: of our property taxes and the taxes we pay on
Speaker 1: our home, how much of that we can deduct from
Speaker 1: our taxable income, and that is going to be increased
Speaker 1: from ten k to up to forty K. And there's
Speaker 1: income limits. You know, you can only qualify for that
Speaker 1: if you earn a certain amount. So that is also
Speaker 1: something that's up in the air, but something that I'm
Speaker 1: looking at. And what's you know, the biggest headline of
Speaker 1: this whole bill is just how expensive it is because
Speaker 1: as the Trump administration and Republicans get rid of all
Speaker 1: these federal I mean, they've just been y'all know about Doge,
Speaker 1: you know about Musk and how he has been gutting
Speaker 1: these federal institutions, agencies and just laying off hundreds and
Speaker 1: hundreds of employees with this bill. They are cutting through
Speaker 1: these healthcare benefits. They are making it harder to qualify
Speaker 1: for Medicaid, they are slashing funding for Obamacare in some ways.
Speaker 1: There is a lot here that's going to cost America
Speaker 1: so much money because they're cutting taxes. The corporate tax
Speaker 1: rate right now thirty five percent, and you and I
Speaker 1: both know is not like these corporations even pay that anyway,
Speaker 1: because they have so many other tax breaks already. But
Speaker 1: right now it's about thirty five percent. This would reduce
Speaker 1: it to twenty one percent. Just about every tax bracket
Speaker 1: income wise would be seeing a decrease in your tax
Speaker 1: that you owe, your income tax that you would owe,
Speaker 1: which may sound great. I mean, who doesn't love a
Speaker 1: tax break. Like I said, I'm all for all increase
Speaker 1: in the tax deduction because of how expensive my property
Speaker 1: taxes are. That being said, when we cut taxes, that
Speaker 1: revenue the US is like a business, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's what Trump always talks about. It's a business. I'm
Speaker 1: a businessman, Order the deal. Ooh, I'm a negotiator. The
Speaker 1: reality is that one of the biggest revenue streams for
Speaker 1: the United States government and our benefits are taxes that
Speaker 1: we all pay, right, and when you cut a funding source,
Speaker 1: being taxes, there has to be a way to generate
Speaker 1: more money to pay for things that keep the lights
Speaker 1: on in this country, pay the roads, pay for schools,
Speaker 1: pay for public resources, our social safety programs. And unfortunately,
Speaker 1: because of how deeply they are trying to cut taxes,
Speaker 1: we are going to be adding trillions, not billion, trillions
Speaker 1: of dollars to the federal deficit if this bill were
Speaker 1: to pass exactly as it is right now. That's according
Speaker 1: to the latest reports. There's a watchdog agency. Some people
Speaker 1: call them bean counters, but these oversight agencies that will
Speaker 1: try to predict or try to estimate, Okay, if this
Speaker 1: bill were to pass, how much are we actually spending.
Speaker 1: What's happening to the deficit. So, because they are cutting
Speaker 1: taxes so much, they're going to have to cut other
Speaker 1: programs because we will not be able to pay for them.
Speaker 1: And so that's where the cuts to Medicaid and to
Speaker 1: Obamacare come in. Oh and let's not forget if you're
Speaker 1: a tipped worker. So if you work in service or
Speaker 1: shift jobs, you may have a tax break on your
Speaker 1: tips and your overtime pay, which I think people are
Speaker 1: very excited about. Yay. All right, let me take a
Speaker 1: quick break and I'm going to come right back with
Speaker 1: more of this solo episode and I'll be right back.
Speaker 1: Ba fam. This is hilarious considering Elon Musk being in
Speaker 1: bed with the President. I don't care what they say.
Speaker 1: I don't think any of us should forget how insane
Speaker 1: Elon's impact has been on our country. And one of
Speaker 1: the ironies of this big, beautiful tax bill is that
Speaker 1: it's going to reduce incentives for Americans to purchase electric
Speaker 1: vehicles yeay, and to make more energy efficient upgrades to
Speaker 1: our homes and things like that. But don't worry. I'm
Speaker 1: not worried for Elon at all, because he's got how
Speaker 1: many different companies, and he has billions of dollars in
Speaker 1: federal contracts. He is enriching himself by having been so
Speaker 1: steeped and so interwoven into all the policies that are
Speaker 1: happening in Washington and being literally at the table for
Speaker 1: as long as he's been. And even though Homeboy apparently
Speaker 1: allegedly is on all sorts of prescription drugs and unhinged,
Speaker 1: which we already kind of knew that, and you know
Speaker 1: is not a fan of this bill. I would not
Speaker 1: be worried. I mean not that I don't think BA Fam.
Speaker 1: We all were worried anyway. But he's going to be
Speaker 1: just fine. If you a family on Snap benefits, which
Speaker 1: I definitely do, they could eventually lead to this bill
Speaker 1: could lead to four million fewer people getting those Snap benefits,
Speaker 1: receiving food aid each month. That's neat, so neat. The
Speaker 1: bill claims it wants to achieve the largest ever welfare
Speaker 1: reform with broad reductions and mandatory spending programs. Mmm hmmm,
Speaker 1: y'all pay attention. We have to wake up now. This
Speaker 1: is on its way to the Senate right now. There's
Speaker 1: still time. Contact your senators, contact your local representatives. Like
Speaker 1: I know, BA FAM, like we we on the right
Speaker 1: side of history. But if you are in a you know,
Speaker 1: if you have an elected official who is on the
Speaker 1: fence or isn't sure how they're going to be voting,
Speaker 1: or hasn't indicated how they're going to be voting on
Speaker 1: this bill, our voices have to matter. We have to
Speaker 1: believe the theme. So please reach out and contact your
Speaker 1: elected officials now. I want to hear from y'all. Ba fam,
Speaker 1: Are you clued in to the big beautiful Bill? Do
Speaker 1: you care what's going on? What are you worried about?
Speaker 1: What are you excited about? Can you please drop me
Speaker 1: a note. I'm at broad Ambition Podcast on ig also
Speaker 1: broad Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com. Also send any
Speaker 1: questions y'all have. But I'm I'm happy to hear from y'all.
Speaker 1: I also, ooh, before I forget, I have to shout
Speaker 1: out our listeners who have been leaving comments on Spotify.
Speaker 1: Did you know on Spotify this is not an endorsement,
Speaker 1: but on Spotify you can actually comment on podcast episodes
Speaker 1: now and it's so fun. And we got a couple
Speaker 1: of people who've commented that I took a screenshot of
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna pull them up really fast. So if
Speaker 1: you're on Spotify listening, let me know how you feel
Speaker 1: about this episode other shows. On my episode from earlier
Speaker 1: this week, I interviewed doctor U. J. Blackstock and doctor
Speaker 1: Jessica M. Shepherd how to overcome healthcare bias in your thirties,
Speaker 1: forties and beyond. So listener Q the Love says, this
Speaker 1: is not a joke. At forty five, I've been putting
Speaker 1: off my perimenopause testing and treatment until last Thursday. I
Speaker 1: was sitting at my work desk and waiting for my
Speaker 1: period to start, and I began to have cramps equivalent
Speaker 1: to childbirth. And I've always had bad cramps, but I
Speaker 1: hadn't felt this type of pain since I gave birth
Speaker 1: sixteen years ago. I've been reading a lot of info
Speaker 1: on perimenopause and joining online groups, but wasn't going in
Speaker 1: to check on myself. I have an appointment coming up
Speaker 1: this July. Yay, cue the love. Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry that you're going through that, but I'm
Speaker 1: really happy. I'm proud of you for getting the healthcare
Speaker 1: that you need. Yes, all right. We had a comment
Speaker 1: on my interview with Zarna Gard. Oh my god, Zarna
Speaker 1: is just you know when I said comment Patreon on
Speaker 1: my Instagram post comment Patreon and I'll send you the
Speaker 1: link to join. Guess who was the first person to
Speaker 1: say Patreon. Zarna Guard. She's a gem listener, a bunch
Speaker 1: of numbers I won't read, says, this was a great conversation.
Speaker 1: I never heard of Zarna before, but I'm definitely getting
Speaker 1: her audiobook after this she dropped a lot of gems. Yes,
Speaker 1: y'all need to go check out that episode. It was
Speaker 1: so damn good. And now for my reviewers on Apple,
Speaker 1: I love thinker Tinker says, great show, five stars. This
Speaker 1: is a great show that offers a different perspective for
Speaker 1: black and brown folks, not only from a financial perspective,
Speaker 1: but from a social perspective as well. I've been listening
Speaker 1: for a while now and this show has covered many
Speaker 1: topics and there's something to learn from each episode. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy as well. That's so sweet. Thank you
Speaker 1: think your tinker the best. And then coach Ney says
Speaker 1: grateful for this show. I truly enjoy the range of
Speaker 1: topics with the brown girl twist. I love when I
Speaker 1: ask my smart friends if they listen to BA and
Speaker 1: they're like, of course, we appreciate what you do. Keep
Speaker 1: them coming. Yes, thank y'all, BA fan so much. Okay,
Speaker 1: I got to get to the airport. I'm going to
Speaker 1: see Beyonce. I'm gonna get my entire life. Do I
Speaker 1: have a cowgirl hot? Hell? Yes I do. Do I
Speaker 1: have way too much packed into a suitcase for four days? Hell?
Speaker 1: Yes I do. I really hope it's not over fifty pounds,
Speaker 1: it very well might be. I had to go pick
Speaker 1: up extra hair care products before I went to the airport. Y'all,
Speaker 1: pray for your girl. Follow on IG. I'll be updating
Speaker 1: from the show. And yes, I'm not even gonna say
Speaker 1: I got great seats because I'm not sitting. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be in the honey buck and pit y'all on my
Speaker 1: fever four hours. So the shoes I'm wearing, that's a
Speaker 1: whole concern because I really don't want to be in pain.
Speaker 1: I will keep y'all posted. I can't wait to get
Speaker 1: my life and hang out with my friends and have
Speaker 1: a damn good time. And as always, thank y'all be
Speaker 1: a fan for supporting. I love y'all so much. Take care,
Speaker 1: stay safe, see you next time. Bye.