WEBVTT - Discover Your Wealth Identity (How-To Monday) 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.840 Aba Fam, it's one of the best days of the week. 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:06.040 It is time for another Holiback Monday. This week we're 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:09.520 looking back at our episode with wealth strategist and author 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.399 doctor Pamela Jolly. Doctor Jolly. First of all, who doesn't 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.040 love someone called doctor Jolly amazing, So tune in if 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:19.160 you want advice on everything from how to hire right 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:21.840 for your family business to how to prepare your business 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.000 for the future, go ahead and give it a listen. 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:37.000 Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're super Black today. As 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:44.120 per usual, we're Brown Ambition. Hey Mandra and special guests. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:49.040 Hey, hey to hello to our special guest today, doctor 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.880 Pamela Jolly. I cannot wait to introduce you to y'all, 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.400 To you guys, to our ba Fam. I was actually 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:56.440 on a panel with doctor Jolly a few weeks ago 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:58.800 and afterward just wanted to know more. You know how 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:00.920 on a panel everyone gets like seven and a half 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.760 minutes to speak, but doctor Jolly seven and a half minutes. 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:05.560 I was like, I need more. Let me let me 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.119 make her talk to me some more. So invited her 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:10.880 to the show today and I cannot aways tell you 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:12.160 about her. So let me just give you a little 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:13.959 bit of a rundown, Doctor Jolly'll let you say hello, 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.720 but let's put some respect on your name and your experience. 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.000 Doctor Pamela Jolly y'all is a wealth strategist, a renowned 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:23.880 speaker and author committed to guiding men, women, business owners, 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.160 faith leaders, and young professionals toward building legacy their way. 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:30.800 She is a I mean, how many degrees I can't 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:33.600 even keep track. She's a graduate of Hampton University, the 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:38.360 Wharton School of Business, Boston University School of Theology, and 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:43.880 Graduate Theological Foundation. After building a successful career in finance 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:46.880 working for companies like Nations, Bake Accenture, and a private 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:49.840 equity firm she helped build called The Boy Partners. In 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:53.320 two thousand and four, Doctor Jolly launched Torch Enterprises, which 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.720 is her strategic investment firm that focuses on women and 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:01.040 minority owned businesses, and in twenty fifteen she launched The 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:05.120 Narrow Road, which is a methodology focused on educating anyone 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.520 wanting to build wealth via ownership and equity. Doctor Pamela Jolly, 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:12.880 Welcome to Brown Ambition. So tell us about Torch at 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:15.560 its Heart. What is Torch Enterprises and what do you 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:16.720 do as a wealth strategist. 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:20.360 Yeah, so great question. So torch stands for passing the 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.280 torch from one generation to the next to build legacy 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:27.200 wealth via ownership and increased equity. And so I started 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.240 Torch Hard to Believe twenty years ago based on something 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:33.840 that really frustrated me that relative to the contributions that 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.520 African Americans have made to America, we just didn't known enough. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.800 We just didn't have enough wealth. And because I have 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.440 worked my entire career in financial services, I wanted more 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.280 of us to understand that we're not starting from nothing, 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.480 that our legacy is very valuable, and so how do 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:53.400 we really blend our belief that we will do well 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:57.200 with finance, business and strategy. So I raised capital and 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.080 awareness for African Americans and their African American businesses and 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:06.520 their communities. I work with large philanthropic organizations, national banks, 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:10.760 large organizations, as well as small businesses and communities. I 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.280 love what I do. It's been an amazing journey that 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:17.840 really started to shape itself post Katrina in New Orleans. 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.200 So I'm indebted to the city of New Orleans. Love 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.240 love New Orleans. But I've worked in over ninety three 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.200 cities across the country. So I love our community and 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.000 I see it as a business and I look forward 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:32.359 to elevating that standard with as many black people as possible. 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.000 She said, I love us for real. Okay, shout out 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:39.720 to money for real. For real. Well, I'm excited that 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:41.680 you're here because I know we're really going to like 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.840 leaning heavily on talking about business and what it looks 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.080 like to be a successful black business kind of what 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:50.840 are the mistakes that we're making that you see across 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.680 the board, and what we can do to minimize those mistakes, 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.520 get access to capital, and do what businesses are meant 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.720 to do, which is grow and pass along. Well super jazz, 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.280 because you know, Mandy and I are both business owners. 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:05.480 So I'm just excited you're here. 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.960 Awesome, grateful to be here both of you. And I'm curious, 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.040 like as one of the things you encounter. I mean, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.520 obviously you work on the ground with black and brown 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:19.359 owned businesses quite often, and for me, as a newbie 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.680 business owner, I think sometimes I wonder if I'm not 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.400 thinking big enough with my business. You know, I just 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:26.760 want to make it through the first year. Make through 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.400 the first year, yah, And of course having listened to 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.719 Tiffany and had sort of a back back back seat 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:37.000 to watching her build multiple businesses over the past. I 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.640 don't know, in your decade we've known each other. It's 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:42.240 been a privilege. But sometimes I'm like, am I allowed 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.520 to think that big yet? And what do I have 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:46.880 to lose by not thinking big early? 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:47.880 Yeah? 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:48.320 What I mean? 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.480 Yeah? Definitely. Well, first of all, it is big for 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:55.159 you to have sustained a business for a year. You know, 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.640 the reality of small businesses and the tenure of them. 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.520 I did do that having commanded I didn't want to 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:02.400 put interrupt I was. 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.880 Like, I need you to take ownership of that, right 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:09.000 because the first year, you know, it's what I call 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.839 the idea phase. You know, you got an idea, But 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:17.520 business is a series of consistently increasing levels of opportunity, right, 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:22.440 So it's increasing relationships, it's increased knowledge gain, it's increasing 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.000 steps that have to be streamlined and organized. And so 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.760 that first year is really you teaching you. Like, am 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.320 I a business owner? I believe the call to entrepreneurship 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.839 is a call from God because it's a faith walk 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:37.480 in many ways, and then that first year it definitely is. 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:40.160 So I think that you know, when we think about 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.880 businesses one to three, you're really figuring it out. And 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.840 I think importance of seeing things big. Think about Stephen 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:49.560 Covey where he says, you know, begin with the end 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:51.920 of mind. You know, you got to focus on your 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.320 exit as soon as you start, Like, how do you 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.719 want to exit this business? Do you want it to 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.240 die with you? Eighty five percent of businesses or lifestyle 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.479 businesses or do you want to pass the torch to 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.720 the next generation? What is this really? You know, some 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.880 lifestyle businesses are for a specific phase and in that 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.640 specific phase of time, you know, then you learn and 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:12.800 I want to do something different. That's the other thing 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.960 that I would encourage emergent business owners as I call them. 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.760 Don't feel so locked in that you don't feel like 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:22.320 you can do anything else. There's a tremendous amount of opportunities, 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:24.719 but you've got to steward and manage your capacity. 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:27.839 No, that's really powerful because I so when I first 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.240 started my business and where I'm at year fourteen, I believe, 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:35.280 I know, and so it's from fourteen years I've made 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:37.919 probably just over thirty million dollars. And this gross obviously 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.080 because you know, I got thirty million. That's my bank account. 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:46.440 But you know, but I feel like with each iteration 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.039 I have gotten clear on the end in mind. At 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:52.279 the beginning, the budget Ee was like, can we pay 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.440 these bills? That was the point. And so I made 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:57.640 a business where I was the Sun, Moon and Stars 0:06:57.680 --> 0:06:59.960 like many of us do, which is nothing wrong with it. 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:04.560 But I realized that, like, what if I don't want 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.600 to do Budgetista forever? And ever, how do I cuse 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.000 what I've created here to build an additional business where 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:13.880 I'm not the Sun winning Stars? And so I created 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.320 my online school literature Academy where I'm one of many 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:21.640 financial educators there, which is great. So it's not heavily 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.520 tied to the Budgetista and all the Budgetista is a 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.680 die with me business, you know, like I just did 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:30.480 my will and in it it says something happens to me. 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.400 My sisters are instructed to just sell it and take 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.480 the proceeds and split it four ways, because what you're 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:37.760 going to do, you're gonna be Budgetesta sys, you know. 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:39.960 And so but then my second business, I have a 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:44.200 business partner, but I'm a majority owner. And what that 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:48.080 looks like is that it can continue without me for 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.880 the most part, where I have almost pulled myself almost 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.240 out of it. I'm probably like eighty percent gone, like 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:55.760 whereas if they have a CEO there, that's not me anymore. 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.200 My face is largely missing, although we still use budgetesta 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.080 to do some promos stuff, but even that, we are 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:03.600 slowly short and chipping away. And I would say, by 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.840 the end of next year, you won't see me at all. 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.000 And that's a business where something happens to me. You know, 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.360 my shares go to my sisters as well. They're not 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:13.239 voting shares. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:13.480 You know. 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.520 My business partner also has the ability to buy them 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.160 out should he decide to do so, or if he 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.360 doesn't buy them out, they just continue to you know, 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:25.280 get their peace, you know. But now this third bus, 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:28.680 now I've started other smaller businesses in between then, but 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.520 this third business that I'm doing now, I'm very clear, 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:33.320 like for the first time, I'm really clear at the 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.280 end in mind is I'm building it to sell within 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.880 five years, like, and I'm really clear on that. And 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:40.760 so can you share with us kind of like how 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.040 can especially when you're first starting out, how can you 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:44.400 get clear with the end in mind when you're like 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:45.679 I'm just trying to pay bills. 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.000 Yeah, well get clear about how you're going to pay 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.320 the bills, right, So, marry yourself to your market, marry 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.480 yourself to your target market. Make sure you're building something 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.320 that you love. Make sure you recognize what you do 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.240 best and what you don't do best. Start to elevate 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:04.600 your trust levels so that you can hire appropriately, you know, 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:09.200 really getting very focused. Seventy one percent of hiring decisions 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:12.280 in small businesses, our mistakes, those are very call not 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:16.199 just them zero. So yes, so it's. 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.480 Not that because we usually go to our family and 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:19.319 friends first, because. 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.040 First of all, we're about ninety percent over here. 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:26.280 Well, here's what I believe based from my experience. I 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:28.920 think it has largely about the blind spots that we 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.360 have about what we really need. Yeah, you know, so 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.720 I really think that people should take some time to 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.679 write out, you know, what is that job description and 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.600 how does it really impact the business. The other thing 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:44.800 is you know, looking at you know, employment of other people. Both, yes, 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.080 it is an expense, but it's also an investment. It's 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.800 leadership and so it's building relationships. So is this just 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.520 a transactional job where they if they show up, praise God. 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.240 If they do what they tell you, praise God? Or 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:58.880 is it really you want someone to think with you, 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:01.520 you know, build with you, with you. So it's really 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.680 getting very clear about that. But I think in the beginning, 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:06.600 you know, when you don't have enough money, when we 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:08.600 said we hire our friends and family because it's cheap. 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.679 I think getting very clear about what you can do 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.280 by yourself and the capacity in which you can do it. 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.800 Some folks get so married to such a large vision 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.480 at the end that they kind of discount what they're 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:22.960 able to do in the beginning. You know, what can 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.680 you actually do with the time that you have? So 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.520 I think it's really important to be very focused and 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:31.960 very clear. In my work with the Narrow Road, I 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.880 created a predictive modeling component. One of my last jobs 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.440 in corporate America was a market research strategist, so learn 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.960 how to create different algorithms and typing tools and the 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.160 importance of segmenting the market. And what I created was 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.840 a predictive modeling component. So I type people and once 0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:51.000 you understand your wealth identity, we're able to get really 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:53.640 clear about how do you articulate what you do and 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:57.600 what you need in order to successfully build the relationships 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.920 required for your business to be successful. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:04.720 Somebody to get a hold of that, ask it for 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:06.360 a friend. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.040 So my first book was written eight years ago, right 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:15.120 after my dad passed away, and a larger publisher, so 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:17.560 I publish it with my own publishing company and then 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:21.160 a larger publisher, Worthy Publishing that's run by Marva Allen, 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:25.000 who owns Human Bookstore. She approached from the pandemic. I 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:28.040 love her too. She's amazing and she actually was one 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.080 of my first clients when I launched Torch in New York, 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.360 and so was so excited. Well, she took the book 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:38.680 and we reorganized it and it's coming out September twelfth. 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.599 Oh oh, concolation, thank you. And so this is the 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.199 second edition of The Narrow Road, and inside of it 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.360 is the Wealth Identity Typing Tool. And then I have 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.360 a wealth Finishing school that's launching in November where I 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:55.400 really help people own their identity and really build wealth 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:57.920 their way so they can build the right relationships with 0:11:57.920 --> 0:11:59.800 the financial professionals. Because that's what I wanted to say 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:02.480 to one, I'm so proud of your trajectory and what 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.319 you're doing. But even hearing you. You can tell you've 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:09.520 spoken to professionals that you trust and you understand they've 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:13.520 given you advice, you've applied that advice, you've gotten their results, 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:15.960 and you're moving forward. So that's how you do it. 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.199 You basically start with the solid foundation and you build, 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:20.360 grow and expand from there. 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.000 Okaba fan, we will be right back with more of 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.400 our conversation on legacy building as black business owners with 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:27.880 doctor Pamela Jolly. 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:31.760 And we're a back more with doctor Jolly. 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:35.679 I'm curious at what point because I know Tiffany and 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:37.679 I talked about you know, the budget needs to for example, 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.760 and you haven't taken any funding Tiffany throughout your ever 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.480 your business is right, of course, I haven't taken any funding. 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:45.520 You have the occasional friend who's like, I want to invest, 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.120 and I'm like, in what I want to buy me 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:51.160 a better webcam? I don't know. But taking on investments 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.320 and when do you do you work at all with that? 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.920 You know that piece of it? When do I identifying 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.120 when you need outside capital and when it can be 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:05.199 beneficial versus actually becoming something that can be cumbersome or 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:06.400 like be an issue down the road. 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.240 Yeah, So in my book, what I talk about is 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.800 there's four capital relationships. The least intimate relationship with capital 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:17.600 is transaction, right, So literally it's all a lot of 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.480 hard work. It does have equity in it, but it's 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:23.120 sweat equity and you work extremely hard. That next one 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.040 is a joint venture, and that's when you bring on 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.760 that friends and family who can support you where you're 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.480 a week now, whether they do it financially. My two 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.760 investors and first two investors in my company were my grandmothers. 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.440 And when black women that you don't expect to be 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:38.960 able to write checks write you checks, you get cash 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.319 flow positive and profitable a lot faster than others might try. 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:46.000 So I'm so grateful that it was my grandmothers who 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:49.680 believed in me that invested That next level of capital 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.200 is where growth capital. Now, growth capital can be either 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:57.160 debt or equity, and I want people to understand the difference. 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.800 You know, debt has rules and regulation. So the financial 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.640 services industry is the highest regulated industry in the country, 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:06.800 So they can't give you money because they like you. 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.520 They have to give you money because you fit a 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.440 certain criteria. That's a good risk for them to take 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:15.720 to deploy capital for you. Now there's different types of 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:18.000 debt capital that you can get. And during the pandemic, 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:20.400 and so many things happened in the pandemic as it 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.960 relates to minority owned businesses, people started to realize that 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.680 many minority own businesses did not have a relationship with 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:30.440 a financial institution that they trusted or understood. A tremendous 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:34.120 amount of capital was deployed to CDFIs who across the 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.960 country are cash flow lenders. But that means that you've 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.840 got to have positive cash flow. That means that you 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.720 have to understand what your operating budget is, and what 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.760 is the deficit in your operating budget, and what would 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.040 it take for you to build up the working capital level. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:52.040 And so then the next level is equity. From my perspective, now, 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:55.400 equity is the most intimate relationship you can have in 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.400 terms of capital. Equity means that you no longer can 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:00.960 do everything you want to do. You've got to align 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:03.680 your vision with those who are investing in you. The 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.160 outcome that they see might be different than the outcome 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:08.960 that you see. It also might be further down the 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.440 road that you can afford to look and may or 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.520 may not include you right. Equity requires an exit, a 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:18.720 defined exit in a specific period of time, with a 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:22.520 specific return on investment, and so oftentimes some of us 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.280 like to jump in skip steps straight to equity. 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:26.040 You know. 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:28.680 One of the things that I want people to think 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.040 about is if you have pre revenue, right, you are 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.360 a pre revenue company and you're looking for equity. There 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.680 are some industries where you do need to raise that 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:38.920 type of money, But Tiffany and Mandy, you are the 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:44.200 earn your way right. There's there's earners and there's owners. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.600 But these earners who they earn their way. Some people 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.720 call it bootstrap. I call it reality. You know, I've 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.800 never raised capital outside of my grand My grandparents and 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.640 my best friend's parents invested in me in the beginning. 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.480 After that, I was able to continue to self invest 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.480 in my enter price to be able to build, grow 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.720 and expand it amazing. But ownership was important to me, 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.800 and passing the torch was important to me. And so 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.320 once again, you've got to get clear about your end. 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.600 What's really important to you is equity capital back not 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.240 at all. Equity capital is amazing, but it's a different 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:20.680 type of relationship that you have with others around the 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:22.080 vision for your enterprise. 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.200 So you see them as sorts of like stepping stones, 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.520 you know, starting smaller and then maybe like you want 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.040 to maybe start with like self funding a little bit 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.920 and then seek out like a friends and family around 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:35.760 of fundraising. I remember when we. 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.520 Yeah, So here's what I'll tell you because it dilutes you. 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:38.960 Right. 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:40.920 So if you in the beginning memory we talked about 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:44.080 the idea stage of business. When you're in the beginning 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:47.120 stages of trying to figure it out and you raise equity, 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:50.200 they're not investing in the idea. They're investing in that 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.720 idea maturing to exit. And so you might say, well, 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.760 I want to pivot. Well, if the business is doing well, 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.600 they're going to say why unless you can prove the 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:03.360 business case all over again. And so it's important for 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.840 you to have the cadence of your capital with the 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:08.760 cadence of your business. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:10.760 It's one of the reasons why not that I was 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:12.800 ever offered because you know, a black woman, But it's 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:14.200 one of the reasons why I was like, I don't 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.200 want to take any outside financial I mean aside from 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:21.679 like if family and friends wanted to invest, but a 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.320 friend of mine just sold his blog for you know, 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.240 eight figures and I suspect close to maybe like forty 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.080 or fifty million dollars. And he was like, I know 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:35.840 they're beating down your door, Tiffany. I'm like, now, despite 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.640 all the success, despite that, we you know, we've only 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:42.160 had profitable years, some years more certain than others. I mean, 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.000 now the Budgetista is like rocking and rolling. Like I 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:47.760 was talked to my CFO the other day. She was like, Tiffany, 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.080 because I have not focused on budget Most of my 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:53.320 focus has been the Literature Academy for the last six 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.160 or seven years when I opened it because it needed 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.840 just a lot, and so the budget NISTA was like 0:17:58.000 --> 0:17:59.840 kind of on the back barner and it just made 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.080 because it was a solid business that made money connect 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.639 what I call kind of like accidentally. But now that 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.479 I'm no longer the CFO of CEO of that business, 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:11.920 I focused on the budget NISA, and we have been 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:15.679 slaying our profit margin to the point where she's like, 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:17.560 we need to spend more. I'm like, oh, what seventy 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:22.040 nine percent? Like we knew that just we have doubled. 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:23.720 I mean I told her in the beginning of the year, 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:25.320 I said Okay, this is what I want to make 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.359 by the end of the year, and we're already there 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.160 plus some and I was like, all right, some new goals. 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.520 And so I guess my question is it's like, because 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.520 now I'm in this place in space where I want 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.639 to do less, so I really want and I'm not 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:44.840 gonna lie. When I heard that he had sold his business, 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.200 I got a little salty because I was just like, well, 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.680 why not me? Why not me? With all that I've 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:53.240 built and grown? Why not me? And I said, well, Tiffany, 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.280 have you intended it to your point doctor Jolly? And 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:58.240 I had not. I don't want to sell Budgetista because 0:18:58.240 --> 0:18:59.399 I'm not going to lie, he asked me. He's like, 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:00.840 if you want, I can get budgets are ready to 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:03.600 sell in sixteen months. And I was like, no, because 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:05.919 it's still something that I really enjoyed doing. So instead, 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.480 I'm building something else that probably take about five years, 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:15.200 I'm estimating. But because I just it feels very disheartening 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.080 that I hear people who are not doing nearly as 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:20.920 much as what you know black and brown women are 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.879 doing that don't get those same opportunities. It's just really frustrating. 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:26.919 Well, I hear you, Tiffany, and if you would allow 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.719 me to kind of go deeper into that for a second. 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:33.960 I mean again, I said that equity is the most 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:37.680 intimate relationship that you can have. But also as black 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.439 and brown individuals, particularly African Americans. You know my research, 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:43.119 what I found is that we're the only people in 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.760 America who were first capital before we ever made capital, 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.720 and so we can't help but look at business as personal. 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.199 And so I hear you, and I've read your books 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.119 and I've also listened to you from the beginning. Budgeinista 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:59.520 is a heartbrand. From my perspective, you care about your people, 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:02.240 you care about what you offered. It's hard to sell that. 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:05.520 And the other thing is that when people don't understand 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:09.320 our hearts. You know, black women are so powerful in 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:11.879