Speaker 1: It's time for the b a q a A, the
Speaker 1: b a q a what you say, the b a
Speaker 1: q a man day, the b a q a tip
Speaker 1: and a the b a q a a. So we're
Speaker 1: doing b a qa today SAMs Mandy because you know
Speaker 1: she got this cold or whatever. But that's okay because
Speaker 1: I'm here and we have someone in stud o. But
Speaker 1: remember Brian and Bishen, question and answer. It's all about
Speaker 1: you have questions. We have some answers. But we are
Speaker 1: not your attorney. We're not your mama, we're not your financializing.
Speaker 1: We're just two smart brown girls who have some answers
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: And so if you'd like to be on the ba
Speaker 1: qa two a's, if you'd like to actually be in
Speaker 1: studio digitally, of course, you can go to Brin and
Speaker 1: Vision podcast on our on our Instagram, leave us a
Speaker 1: voice note, or you can always go to Bronavision podcast
Speaker 1: dot com and and you know, write us a message.
Speaker 2: Okay. So in study today we have Mayoki. Did I
Speaker 2: say it right? San Florence?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Okay? Miaoke, thank you that.
Speaker 1: So she's got a really good question about some business.
Speaker 1: So Mike, Wh's got to ask a question We'll first
Speaker 1: tell us a little about yourself, then ask you a
Speaker 1: question that we can get this party started.
Speaker 3: Okay, Okay. So my name is Mayoki Saint Florence. I
Speaker 3: am a Jersey native. I live in what I like
Speaker 3: to call the Tri City area, Nork, Irvington, and Eastern
Speaker 3: I don't know, that's my stopping ground where I was
Speaker 3: born and raised. Okay, and I have spent the past
Speaker 3: five plus years of my career working with youth in
Speaker 3: our area. I've done work in some charter school systems
Speaker 3: as well as for the Trio upper Bound program that
Speaker 3: was in existence at Seaton Hall University. I am a
Speaker 3: two time graduate of Seaton Hall University.
Speaker 2: Okay, I want you know I graduates to set that.
Speaker 1: I got my.
Speaker 3: Master's Okay, got my master's in public administration. And I'm
Speaker 3: currently in the space of being un an employed, but
Speaker 3: very inspired.
Speaker 2: I love it and having.
Speaker 3: That time to kind of slow down, reset myself refocused.
Speaker 3: I came up with a business plan and the name
Speaker 3: of my business is Focused Foundation for our Communities Undeniable Success.
Speaker 3: So I'm in the space of really trying to get
Speaker 3: clarity on which way to go when starting when doing
Speaker 3: a startup, particularly whether I should go the LLC side
Speaker 3: or the five or one C three side, So the
Speaker 3: pros and cons of both.
Speaker 1: Okay, first of all, my okay, first of all, I
Speaker 1: did not know girl that she was as the scotty
Speaker 1: girl like myself.
Speaker 2: Okay, because y'all.
Speaker 3: Know, I live in newer right next to you, right,
Speaker 3: I see, I'm in northist. I actually was at the
Speaker 3: breakfast that was held by the superintendent last month. Oh
Speaker 3: when I was there, yeah there, Yes, I didn't get
Speaker 3: to see you because I had to run out really early.
Speaker 3: So this moment right here is full circle for me.
Speaker 3: Oh this is a hive in that moment. But I'm
Speaker 3: having this one on one dialogue with.
Speaker 1: That awesome yes, the superintendent. He is also like a
Speaker 1: neighbor of mine as well as the insistent superintendent.
Speaker 2: Shout out to you a Roger and Maria. But no,
Speaker 2: this is this is really full circle. This is awesome.
Speaker 1: So yes, I love to see a that on Jersey
Speaker 1: Native and also too, where you are, Mayoki is where
Speaker 1: I was when I started the Bunjanista. I was unemployed
Speaker 1: but inspired, and I was literally asking myself the same thing.
Speaker 1: Should I have a nonprofit or should I start a business,
Speaker 1: because well, first tell me why, Like why why were
Speaker 1: you thinking about starting a nonprofit? Like what is the
Speaker 1: what's the motivation behind potentially having a business that's a nonprofit?
Speaker 3: So the motivation behind it is doing work that literally
Speaker 3: serves the community, and I think, I think my heart
Speaker 3: has always been one of service and giving back to others,
Speaker 3: and I've always done that from a space of not
Speaker 3: wanting anything in return. So the heart or the focus,
Speaker 3: the mission of that business is we advocate for black
Speaker 3: and brown people, helping them find their voice and bring
Speaker 3: wholeness to our communities. So looking at the mission and
Speaker 3: the vision statement of my particular organization, my mind was
Speaker 3: going to five oh one seed three route in terms
Speaker 3: of how I would be connecting to the community. But
Speaker 3: then I also came up with a few programs that
Speaker 3: I would like to run underneath that umbrella, which had
Speaker 3: me kind of battling between the two LLC versus CIBO
Speaker 3: one Seed three.
Speaker 1: And I figured that because saying when I started the Bundanista,
Speaker 1: I said, I want to be of service to my community.
Speaker 1: And I was working in Newark at a childcare center
Speaker 1: in the Southward, which.
Speaker 2: You already know that's the roughest ward and a.
Speaker 1: Lot of the parents used to come to me and
Speaker 1: ask me for financial help, and I said, I wanted
Speaker 1: to do something that would serve this community, my black
Speaker 1: and brown community. And so I thought at the time,
Speaker 1: I thought I would continue being a teacher and I
Speaker 1: would just start this nonprofit on the side. And I
Speaker 1: did a little bit of research and I found the
Speaker 1: thing that why I chose. So I'm going to share
Speaker 1: some pros and cons, but one of them the so
Speaker 1: a pro of having a nonprofit is that you're likely
Speaker 1: to get You're more likely to get funding, you know,
Speaker 1: and especially where you are in this like Tri City area,
Speaker 1: that there are a lot of nonprofits to partner with
Speaker 1: because partnership is the name of the game when you're
Speaker 1: a nonprofit, and they do so like well in this
Speaker 1: area that I have seen, you know that, And so
Speaker 1: there's funding opportunities, especially you are a black woman, and
Speaker 1: so there are if you're registered as a as a
Speaker 1: small business, a woman owned business, a black owned business,
Speaker 1: these things will also help you to attract the funding necessary,
Speaker 1: you know, for success. You know, and when you're a nonprofit,
Speaker 1: people are very clear about the mission being community focused.
Speaker 1: So some of these are some of the pros of
Speaker 1: having a nonprofit. Now, a huge con for me for
Speaker 1: having a nonprofit was I could start a nonprofit and
Speaker 1: I could be voted out.
Speaker 2: I said, oh wait a minute, that board is something else. Girl. Okay,
Speaker 2: I'll say because at the beginning, you're like.
Speaker 1: Whatever, your board's gonna be your family and friends, right,
Speaker 1: defin what everybody does in the beginning, and you know
Speaker 1: they're not gonna do all that. But as you grow,
Speaker 1: which we always want to have a mindset of well
Speaker 1: what does it look like five ten years from now?
Speaker 1: And the board is not family and friends. These are
Speaker 1: community both based folks. Whatever you're essentially a nonprofit is
Speaker 1: not really your business, right, it really belongs to the people.
Speaker 1: Which as long as you're okay with that, okay. But
Speaker 1: for me, it didn't sit right with me that if
Speaker 1: I built something that maybe one day I could be replaced.
Speaker 1: You know, I was just like, I just wasn't interested
Speaker 1: in that. And I said, well, well, how do I
Speaker 1: build something that's for the community and still have ownership
Speaker 1: over my thing? And what I realized is that, you know,
Speaker 1: you can do that with a mission statement, with your
Speaker 1: mission and so I the way the budget NESTA was
Speaker 1: initially like the business model, which is still basically build
Speaker 1: the same business model, which is that I charged the partners.
Speaker 2: But not the community.
Speaker 1: So one of my first partners was the United Way
Speaker 1: of Now it's the United Way of like I guess
Speaker 1: like like a greater like Northern New Jersey, but at
Speaker 1: the time it was like Essex County or New Work
Speaker 1: or whatever. One of my first partners was the Unadded Way,
Speaker 1: and the United Way used to pay me, and then
Speaker 1: I would go out to the community and I would say, hey,
Speaker 1: every Tuesday, I had free money classes. I use social media,
Speaker 1: you know, I use word of mouth. And it started
Speaker 1: off as five people, and then the next Coport was twenty,
Speaker 1: and the next Cohorse fifty, the next Cohurk was like
Speaker 1: one hundred, you know, and so I still got to
Speaker 1: navigate to the community of what felt like a nonprofit,
Speaker 1: but I got to you know, like maintain my ownership,
Speaker 1: and I still you.
Speaker 2: Know, found ways to get quote unquote funding, you know.
Speaker 1: And so so for me, creating this LLC sole proprietorship
Speaker 1: was the the right move because it like maybe a
Speaker 1: set and initially having it be a five p' one
Speaker 1: C three. That's what for those who don't know, that's
Speaker 1: the that's the tax kind of like code for nonprofit.
Speaker 1: So initially, you know, that was like, you know, that
Speaker 1: might have been a good idea, but now that the
Speaker 1: budget says fifteen years old, it might be a nightmare
Speaker 1: now because I might be fighting for my life and
Speaker 1: my company because all that I put in.
Speaker 2: Someone could vote me out, you know, And so yeah,
Speaker 2: so it would just it would.
Speaker 1: It's really up to you to decide how you want
Speaker 1: it to go. But with an LLC, even if you're
Speaker 1: not a nonprofit, it doesn't mean that you still can't
Speaker 1: quote unquote get funding.
Speaker 2: You know, there's ways to also partner with nonprofit.
Speaker 1: So for example, the reason why the United Way had
Speaker 1: that money is because they are a nonprofit. Banks, by
Speaker 1: law have to set aside, I believe, five percent of
Speaker 1: their profit for the communities that they're in, or at
Speaker 1: least in Newark. That's how it goes, right, So there
Speaker 1: are banks in Newark who are like, we got all
Speaker 1: this money, we have to give it away. What reputable
Speaker 1: nonprofit they can't we give this money to? And the
Speaker 1: United Way is very reputable, and it's like you know,
Speaker 1: so many years old and they do a lot of
Speaker 1: great work. So they gave money to the United Way
Speaker 1: and said do something financial in the community. And the
Speaker 1: United Way said, we should have financial classes and if
Speaker 1: you take these classes, if you made a certain amount
Speaker 1: of money, they would basically almost pay you to come
Speaker 1: to class.
Speaker 2: You know. They were like they used to have.
Speaker 1: They used to have a ford that was called an
Speaker 1: IDA program, an Individual Development Account where they would match
Speaker 1: you up to five hundred dollars.
Speaker 2: They would match you for every dollar you put in.
Speaker 1: They would give you three, you know, so if you
Speaker 1: put in five hundred dollars by the end of the program,
Speaker 1: you got back two thousand that you could use to
Speaker 1: buy a home, start a business, or go to school.
Speaker 2: And so that money, that two thousand came from the bank.
Speaker 1: Now, the bank is not going to give it to
Speaker 1: the Budgetista because I was for profit, but they gave
Speaker 1: it to the United Way, and the United Way was
Speaker 1: able to share some of that in paying me to
Speaker 1: teach the class.
Speaker 2: Do you see what I mean?
Speaker 1: So there's still ways to be super community focused and
Speaker 1: oriented with a and maintain you know, the status of
Speaker 1: your company and not charge the you know, like not
Speaker 1: charge the end user of your product or service, you know,
Speaker 1: because also too, you have to understand that lots of
Speaker 1: nonprofits don't do the work. They facilitate the work to
Speaker 1: be done. So they're looking for a Mayoki to say, hey,
Speaker 1: we heard you're doing this great work.
Speaker 2: We want to pay.
Speaker 1: You with the money we've received and funding to do
Speaker 1: that work in the community on our behalf.
Speaker 2: Do you see what I mean?
Speaker 3: While you while you're speaking of that, right, what comes
Speaker 3: to my mind is differentiation, right, And I think this
Speaker 3: is something that you do really well, knowing the community
Speaker 3: that we're from, that we live in, knowing all the
Speaker 3: programs right that we have that are active just right now,
Speaker 3: what would you say is something I could do or anybody?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: What are tips for differentiating yourself from other programs that
Speaker 3: may be doing something similar to what you're doing?
Speaker 1: So you'd be surprised how many people ain't doing work? Okay, Mayoka,
Speaker 1: let me tell you, like for real, Like you might
Speaker 1: think to yourself like, oh gosh, there's ten people. I
Speaker 1: promise you, if there's ten, there's probably one that is consistent.
Speaker 1: Like people always ask how did you get to do this?
Speaker 1: Because I do what I said, I'm gonna do literally
Speaker 1: in this space, in any space, very few people consistently
Speaker 1: show up. Like, for example, me and Mandy have been
Speaker 1: doing Brown Ambition for like the last six or seven years.
Speaker 1: Think about how many podcasts that you like that you
Speaker 1: listen to. You're like, what happened they stop taping. We've
Speaker 1: been six or seven years, barely missed a week, just
Speaker 1: by by the nature of the fact that we are
Speaker 1: here every single week. That's why we're a top business podcast.
Speaker 1: Just showing up, so one literally just showing up. Hold
Speaker 1: that thought before we continue, let's go to break, because
Speaker 1: you know, we got more to talk about.
Speaker 2: Showing up.
Speaker 1: So one of the ways I differentiated myself, for example,
Speaker 1: with the United Way, is so I used to come early.
Speaker 1: So I would teach this class every Tuesday, and say
Speaker 1: class started at like five. I got there four thirty
Speaker 1: to set up, sometimes even four because I would.
Speaker 2: Spend my laptop to do some work.
Speaker 1: So I got there early to set up, and I
Speaker 1: actually set up like I brought.
Speaker 2: I went to the Dollar store. I used some of
Speaker 2: the money they gave me, went to the dollar store.
Speaker 1: I got notebooks, I got pens for free from the
Speaker 1: bank I used to like, girl, I ain't paying with
Speaker 1: these pens.
Speaker 2: Pens.
Speaker 1: I got folders, and I literally you would come in
Speaker 1: because there I used to be a school teacher, and
Speaker 1: the whole classroom is set up, especially that first day, beautifully.
Speaker 2: So that was huge to them, you know.
Speaker 1: Then I started, like, in the beginning, I just was teaching,
Speaker 1: and then someone said, I would really love if I
Speaker 1: can see like the numbers and things you're going over.
Speaker 1: So I created a power point, so one two pivoting
Speaker 1: with the information to deliver more. So the next cohort,
Speaker 1: I had my power point and then someone said, you know,
Speaker 1: it'd be.
Speaker 2: Really great if we had some homework.
Speaker 1: So I started to, like, you know, every after every class,
Speaker 1: give them a little homework to bring in the next class.
Speaker 1: So every time I got a suggestion that was very helpful,
Speaker 1: I made a.
Speaker 2: Move on it. Too many people are slow to do
Speaker 2: anything about it, you know, you.
Speaker 1: Know, and I asked for feedback and pivoted that way,
Speaker 1: and I tracked my success. This is going to be
Speaker 1: so important for you. Like, so in the beginning I
Speaker 1: had everyone. I didn't do this in the very very
Speaker 1: for cohort, but I learned this later because I think
Speaker 1: the United Way asked me like, oh, how are people doing?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, oh, really, well, girl, that data.
Speaker 1: So literally, I created a survey. In the beginning, do
Speaker 1: you have a credit you know? Do you know what
Speaker 1: your credit score is? What is it? And by the end, girl,
Speaker 1: at the end, they did the survey again and five percent.
Speaker 1: We saw a movement in budgeting and say that it
Speaker 1: was incredible. So that data is going to help set
Speaker 1: you apart. Because a lot of people are really good
Speaker 1: at cooking. It doesn't mean that you're a chef. You know,
Speaker 1: it's the refinement that makes you a chef. It's the survey.
Speaker 1: It's the coming early and staying late, you know, it's
Speaker 1: the answering question. And then something else I did was
Speaker 1: I created a Facebook group for the people who were
Speaker 1: in my classes so I can extend it. Then in
Speaker 1: that way, wasn't paying me for that, but I wanted
Speaker 1: to extend the lesson so if you have questions, you
Speaker 1: could ask them here.
Speaker 2: But as a result, it helped to grow my business overall.
Speaker 1: So I over delivered always, I mean, I delivered excellence.
Speaker 1: I mean that's just my motto that if you're going
Speaker 1: to do it, do it right, you know, And so
Speaker 1: that's you don't actually have to do all these bells
Speaker 1: and whistles.
Speaker 2: Just consistently showing up and doing a good job.
Speaker 1: Literally, you will knock out ninety nine percent of any
Speaker 1: sort of competition that you think you might have, you know,
Speaker 1: and then also too, consider something else that would help
Speaker 1: is consider partnering, because oftentimes, you know, let's just say
Speaker 1: that someone is something super similar and then that way
Speaker 1: might have three hundred thousand dollars set aside. It's like, well, girl,
Speaker 1: let's do it together and approach them and say, hey,
Speaker 1: we're two separate organizations. We deliver this, but we can
Speaker 1: serve more people together, and they're like, ooh bet, you
Speaker 1: know the contract goes to you.
Speaker 3: And that was just actually going to be my next
Speaker 3: question right making that first ask, And I think you
Speaker 3: hit it right on the head, right partnering knowing that
Speaker 3: I know I have a lot enough contacts in my
Speaker 3: community where I can reach out to build those partnerships,
Speaker 3: to gain contracts, to work collaborative, collaboratively right in the
Speaker 3: efforts that I'm trying to get started while trying to
Speaker 3: build my own business. So yeah, I think that that
Speaker 3: you have confirmed for me that I am on the
Speaker 3: right path. I think all the information you just gave
Speaker 3: me are things that I have been doing. But I
Speaker 3: literally was just seeking somebody to say, yes, you got it,
Speaker 3: like yess, that's it, Yes, this keep going.
Speaker 2: I well, yes, it's the confirmation today. I love that.
Speaker 3: That's exactly what I was looking for. And it's exactly
Speaker 3: what I've been praying for. Right I pray and I said,
Speaker 3: I just need clarity. I just need an answer, Like
Speaker 3: just give me answer, y'ah wagh and I'll be good.
Speaker 2: So this is, well, here's your I call your God
Speaker 2: nod you know. That's that's what I call them when you're.
Speaker 1: Like, wait, you might want and God be like, yes
Speaker 1: you are girl, by giving you like a little bit
Speaker 1: of encouragement.
Speaker 2: Yep, this is a big old God nod.
Speaker 1: And I'll just say this is that like you know that,
Speaker 1: like you should tattoo that this on your notebook or whatever.
Speaker 1: That consistency will beat intensity any day. So people think like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to work out today, I'm gonna run three miles.
Speaker 1: You run three miles is one day and never hit
Speaker 1: the track again. But a person who literally just walks
Speaker 1: every day. That consistent walking every day is going to
Speaker 1: do more for your body than that three miles in
Speaker 1: one day, So it's go ahead.
Speaker 3: That's crazy because whenever I pitch myself like who I
Speaker 3: am to people and the work that I'm doing, I
Speaker 3: pitch to them the three pillars that I stand on, love, relatability,
Speaker 3: and consistency. Right, if I show up like that every
Speaker 3: single day, if I show up in a loving man,
Speaker 3: if I show up being relatable to the community that
Speaker 3: I'm serving, and if I show up for them consistently,
Speaker 3: that for me has proven my success. That for me
Speaker 3: has been the path that I've walk. It's been kind
Speaker 3: of the measure I've used to determine whether or not
Speaker 3: I'm successful. So consistency, I'm telling you, the confirmation god
Speaker 3: not is just a part of me, like one of
Speaker 3: the pillars that I stand on in the work that
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 2: Can I give you one last piece of advice?
Speaker 3: Uh huh? Please?
Speaker 1: So so many people, especially women, especially black women.
Speaker 2: I knew when you said nonprofit.
Speaker 1: I knew why because so many of us navigate from
Speaker 1: a heart of service. I want you to break the
Speaker 1: connection that service equals brokeness.
Speaker 2: That you Mioki I.
Speaker 1: Give you permission to make money, to make money for
Speaker 1: your business, to make money for yourself, to make money
Speaker 1: for yourself, to make money for yourself, to make money
Speaker 1: for yourself.
Speaker 2: Receive it, yes, Because.
Speaker 1: In the beginning, even when I made I used to
Speaker 1: give it all the way I overpaid everyone.
Speaker 2: I felt guilty. It's enough.
Speaker 1: I give you permission to make money for yourself, a
Speaker 1: lot of money for yourself, for your family, for your legacy.
Speaker 1: It does not take away from the work you do
Speaker 1: for the community. It does not take away from your
Speaker 1: heart and your kindness and your humility.
Speaker 2: It does not. I give you permission to do so.
Speaker 1: I don't want you, know, like you to think that
Speaker 1: like and somehow growing wealth for yourself takes away from
Speaker 1: anyone else.
Speaker 2: If anything, you.
Speaker 1: Add to the ability to serve and give even more,
Speaker 1: because there are little brown babies that you gonna look
Speaker 1: after that someone else might not think of. But because
Speaker 1: you got money, you got them.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: There are there are maybe politicians that you back because
Speaker 1: you're like, I love the work they do that everybody
Speaker 1: else is like no, But because you got money, you
Speaker 1: got them.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: It might be your siblings, your mama, your dad, that
Speaker 1: needs something and you're like, oh, my goodness. But because
Speaker 1: you got money, you got them, you know what I mean. Like,
Speaker 1: it took me a long time to break past. My
Speaker 1: biggest barrier was myself because I felt guilty about making money.
Speaker 2: I don't anymore.
Speaker 1: Because I know that from the wealth I get for
Speaker 1: my overflow.
Speaker 2: Exactly, you know.
Speaker 3: And blessed to be a blessing, that's what That's.
Speaker 2: One of my things you said, that's one of my
Speaker 2: that's one of my saying we are blessed to be lessing.
Speaker 3: And I'm this right now on your podcast because just
Speaker 3: a few days ago, I said to myself, Miyoki, you're
Speaker 3: going to be a millionaire and it's going to be okay,
Speaker 3: Like you're going to be the first to do it,
Speaker 3: and there's nothing.
Speaker 2: Wrong with that, and I'm nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 3: I'm holding onto that because I am, just like you said,
Speaker 3: right I'm giving my self permission right now, yes and
Speaker 3: live abundantly, Yes, serve, and to serve abundantly abundantly. The
Speaker 3: way to do that is to have the resources so
Speaker 3: that I can meet the needs of the people.
Speaker 1: I literally got chills when I tell you from one
Speaker 1: black girl millionaire to one future black girl millionaire.
Speaker 4: You got this and I got you. Thank you, You're welcome.
Speaker 4: Gotta send love love love Well. I hope y'all enjoyed,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 1: So, if you want to be on a podcast, if
Speaker 1: you want to ask a business question, career question, a
Speaker 1: money question, you know, go to Brown and Vision podcast
Speaker 1: on Instagram and send us a voice note, or you know,
Speaker 1: go to Brownimision podcast dot com and click ask anything
Speaker 1: and come on into the studio.
Speaker 2: We'd love to have you. And so until next time,
Speaker 2: by y'all. Bye, Hey ba fan. We could not do
Speaker 2: this show without your support or the support of our
Speaker 2: team behind the scenes. The Brown and Mission podcast is
Speaker 2: produced by Cumulus Podcast Network. It's edited by the wonderful
Speaker 2: Emani Crosby and produced by Tanya Bustos. Dennis Stimplinsky is
Speaker 2: our
Speaker 1: In house tech guru, and I am Bandy Woodrid Santos
Speaker 1: your co host, and I will see y'all next week.