Speaker 1: Hey, ba fam, it's your girl, Mandy Money. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to another episode of the show. This is a special one.
Speaker 1: This is one that's probably been a couple of years
Speaker 1: in the making, at least a year in the making.
Speaker 1: Ever since the day that I realized Jamila Suffrant, friend
Speaker 1: of the show, host of the Journey to Launch podcast,
Speaker 1: author of Your Journey to Financial Freedom book, that she
Speaker 1: is just one of three incredible powerhouse sisters. And I
Speaker 1: was like, I have to get you and your sister's
Speaker 1: on Brown ambition. We have to talk about this sisterhood.
Speaker 1: We have to talk about y'all's journey as sisters, as entrepreneurs,
Speaker 1: as all the things. And she said yes. They all
Speaker 1: said yes, and we made it work. All three of
Speaker 1: the sisters showed up. We have Jamila Suffrant, of course,
Speaker 1: we also have her little sister, Shana McGregor, and the
Speaker 1: third sister, Ivanni Manning. Each of these women is carving
Speaker 1: out their own incredible path and together they are reading
Speaker 1: of finding what resilience, entrepreneurship and family support look like. Jamila,
Speaker 1: who is the big sister of the trio, is a
Speaker 1: financial freedom expert. As I mentioned, she's the author of
Speaker 1: Your journey to financial freedom. She's inspired people everywhere to
Speaker 1: dream bigger than their cubicle and take control of their money.
Speaker 1: While Shana is the creative genius. She's a professional dancer
Speaker 1: who's turned wellness coach and is now building her brand
Speaker 1: inward Space while pursuing her master's in social work. And
Speaker 1: Imani listen, it's hard because we don't have smellvision. I
Speaker 1: can't put you back at the event where Jamila had
Speaker 1: her book launch, where I tasted Imani's food for the
Speaker 1: first time, but it's so good. Imani is a culinary
Speaker 1: queen who's serving up gourmet meals for kids while running
Speaker 1: her own catering business. We're going to talk about their journeys,
Speaker 1: how they've overcome challenges, how they've embraced pivots and supported
Speaker 1: each other along the way, from financial wins to career shifts,
Speaker 1: and lessons in giving yourself grace. This conversation is packed
Speaker 1: with wisdom that you don't want to miss. So grab
Speaker 1: your coffee, glass of wine, grab a basket of laundry,
Speaker 1: whatever y'all do on your own time when you're listening
Speaker 1: to the show. That's your business, not my business. Okay,
Speaker 1: but let's dive on in. Hey, hey va, fam, I
Speaker 1: am your host, Mandy Woodrif Santos. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Brown Table at Brown Ambition. I am thrilled to get
Speaker 1: these ladies back together. I feel like I have brought
Speaker 1: back like Destiny's child, you know, like in a way
Speaker 1: and like three powerful women who started all together, grew
Speaker 1: up together and have launched their own successful careers. And Jamila,
Speaker 1: you sort of started it all. So I'll introduce you first,
Speaker 1: or you know her because she has been a multi
Speaker 1: time guest on Brown Ambition. We love Jamila, author of
Speaker 1: Journey to Launch, also the same names of her podcast
Speaker 1: she's been doing since twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2: Wait, so, Mandy, the book is your Journey to Financial
Speaker 2: Freedom and the podcast is Journey to Launch.
Speaker 1: And now why did you do that? Why didn't you
Speaker 1: just it's more like your fault than my fault, is
Speaker 1: what I feel like. But Okay, the book is.
Speaker 3: Right behind me to financial freedom, and.
Speaker 1: This is true, but I can only see a little corner. Okay, Okay,
Speaker 1: I took a risk and I failed. It's fine. Be
Speaker 1: a family loves it. That's fine, all right. Your Journey
Speaker 1: to Financial Freedom, which has been out for you just
Speaker 1: had your year celebration, right, your year anniversary in December?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, a little bit over a year now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she got a toddler book. But I know how
Speaker 1: hard you worked on that, and I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 1: But Journey to Launch the podcast where you talk about
Speaker 1: how to find your financial freedom and how to Yeah,
Speaker 1: you talk about your your guak, was it your glack budget.
Speaker 3: Black levels, your block levels? You want to live Yep.
Speaker 1: It's such a great book. Like if you are someone
Speaker 1: who like maybe you even have a base level of
Speaker 1: financial knowledge, but you want to retire early, you want
Speaker 1: to figure out how to find your own financial freedom.
Speaker 1: Love that book. But it wasn't until your book launch
Speaker 1: that I put the connections together that Shane McGregor is
Speaker 1: your sister. Shane and I had met at a separate event,
Speaker 1: but that's when I started to see like these were
Speaker 1: not just like, oh this is my little sister. You
Speaker 1: were the MC for the book launch. You did a
Speaker 1: fantastic job. I was like, is she also famous? Like
Speaker 1: I don't understand. Then I started talking to you about
Speaker 1: your background. You come from a dance background, a life coach,
Speaker 1: you have a life you had a life coach practice.
Speaker 1: I'm going to get an update now because I know
Speaker 1: in this original interview that y'all did together on Janila's podcast,
Speaker 1: you talked about launching that you had just started, and
Speaker 1: I'm excited to get the lowdown on that. And then
Speaker 1: at the same event, you just can smell like the
Speaker 1: just like I mean, it's not a huge venue, but
Speaker 1: like you can look straight to the back and I
Speaker 1: just see this gorgeous spread of food and this is
Speaker 1: not a crue de tey. This ain't like some ranch
Speaker 1: dip and a chip and some cucumber slices. This was delicious.
Speaker 1: You had some seafood there, there was all I like,
Speaker 1: my proteins, the most amazing food. And then I'm like,
Speaker 1: who made this food? Jamila just casually says, oh, my sister,
Speaker 1: I'm Annie. She's just like, I don't know a Micheline
Speaker 1: Award winning chef.
Speaker 4: Yes, no, keep it.
Speaker 1: And then I didn't have as much time to talk
Speaker 1: to you, but I just left that event thinking like, well, damn,
Speaker 1: these three women from the same family are all incredible
Speaker 1: in their own right. And that's when I started to
Speaker 1: think about having all on the show. But for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: it took me this long to finally make it happen.
Speaker 1: But welcome. What do I call you? What's your family name?
Speaker 1: You have a family name? What's y'all's? Like?
Speaker 3: I mean, we.
Speaker 2: Can, we can go through our family tree a bit,
Speaker 2: but you can just I don't know, I know thinks.
Speaker 1: You can get messy. Okay, I got some that are no
Speaker 1: longer steps like, it's fine.
Speaker 5: Let's she here the maid up name that you came
Speaker 5: up with. You look like you have one, Mandy. Mandy
Speaker 5: looks like she had one. Yeah, she looked.
Speaker 4: Like she have one in the but she just don't
Speaker 4: want to say it.
Speaker 1: And what would the band be called? The band? It's
Speaker 1: got to have three in it, the Triple Threat, the
Speaker 1: Triple threat sisters, the Triple Threats. Yeah, I like that,
Speaker 1: all right, Jamila, I want to start with you tell
Speaker 1: me the story of your journey to financial freedom and
Speaker 1: building your podcast. And when did you like suck your
Speaker 1: sisters into this life of entrepreneurship. Where how has that been?
Speaker 1: Because my siblings don't listen to me at all, so.
Speaker 2: I'm well, you know they listen when Yeah? No, So okay,
Speaker 2: I think we should go first to the family tree
Speaker 2: and then we'll quickly go to like my backstory, because
Speaker 2: I do want to highlight them and all the amazing
Speaker 2: things they're doing. But and so let's see, Shana and
Speaker 2: I share the same mom. That's how we're sisters, and
Speaker 2: so it's just the two of us for my mom.
Speaker 2: Then I'mani and I share the same dad. And it's
Speaker 2: so funny because I'mani. I was you know, I always
Speaker 2: forget how many siblings we know of, So.
Speaker 3: I was writing, how.
Speaker 2: Right, So I, Bonnie and I have the same dad,
Speaker 2: and but all of us together, there are seven of
Speaker 2: us that we know of that share the same dad.
Speaker 2: And so that's kind of like how we're all siblings.
Speaker 2: And then the way we work as a family though,
Speaker 2: Imani and Shana are just their siblings just but you know,
Speaker 2: that's how we work as a family. So they're sisters too.
Speaker 2: And I'm the second oldest of my dad. In general,
Speaker 2: I'm just the biggest sister. I'm the big sister to everyone.
Speaker 1: Okay, I never really enough there now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm big sis.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I was born on the beautiful island of Jamaica, and
Speaker 2: I came here to the United States, to New York,
Speaker 2: specifically when I was just under two years old. And
Speaker 2: so ultimately, I think what was amazing about growing up
Speaker 2: and kind of having the Jamaican background and roots is
Speaker 2: that because my father, if you didn't figure out yet,
Speaker 2: was Jamaican and he was in Jamaica. Most of my
Speaker 2: siblings from him were all in Jamaica, and so I
Speaker 2: used to go back every summer and spend summers there,
Speaker 2: and that's how I met my siblings. And luckily, even
Speaker 2: though my father wasn't that involved in my life, my
Speaker 2: mom and his family were very close, so she would
Speaker 2: be able to send me and that's kind of how
Speaker 2: I got this connection with my father's side of the
Speaker 2: family and my siblings where it really feels like we
Speaker 2: grew up together because I saw them every summer, like
Speaker 2: I was the big sister who was in America that
Speaker 2: came down and all this stuff. And then Shane and I,
Speaker 2: of course we were just in New York together with
Speaker 2: my mom. But ultimately I was always like independent, wanted
Speaker 2: to live life on my own terms. And then you know,
Speaker 2: life happens where you realize you need to work to
Speaker 2: get money. And as a chew Jamaican, I started working
Speaker 2: from the age of fourteen and have been working ever
Speaker 2: since and did all the right things, went to college,
Speaker 2: bought a condo when I was pretty young, right out
Speaker 2: of college, got a full time job. But ultimately I
Speaker 2: know why That's not what I wanted to do for
Speaker 2: the rest of my life. I wanted freedom. And it
Speaker 2: wasn't until my early thirties that I said to myself,
Speaker 2: on this long commute to work to this cubicle that
Speaker 2: I did not enjoy or love. I needed something different,
Speaker 2: and it prompted me to search for ways to quit
Speaker 2: my job find financial freedom, and I found podcasts blogs
Speaker 2: talking about financial independence. Was like, how can I get
Speaker 2: on that train?
Speaker 3: How can I learn more?
Speaker 2: And I started to learn over the years, eventually started
Speaker 2: my own blog and podcasts Journey to Launch, where I
Speaker 2: was documenting how I was going to quit my job
Speaker 2: and retire early, which eventually led to me quitting my
Speaker 2: job early, writing a book that hopefully is helping people
Speaker 2: do the same think about their life, life bigger than
Speaker 2: the car and the cubicle, about what they really want.
Speaker 2: And that's kind of like where I am today. And
Speaker 2: then with my sisters, they can tell you about their journey,
Speaker 2: but honestly, I think they've always also been entrepreneurs at
Speaker 2: heart and free spirits, so it doesn't surprise me that
Speaker 2: they're in the fields that they're in.
Speaker 1: I love it. Can y'all tell me as as Jamila
Speaker 1: is telling her story, because y'all are little sisters. What
Speaker 1: was it like? And y'all have such different perspectives? Imani,
Speaker 1: you're watching this happen from Jamaica, Shana, you're here next
Speaker 1: to her. What was your impression? Were you like, I
Speaker 1: don't know what's going on with Jamila, Like she don't
Speaker 1: quit her job. I don't know what's going on. Were
Speaker 1: you worried? Was it like, oh yeah, I always knew?
Speaker 1: What was that like for y'all?
Speaker 4: I'll happen.
Speaker 6: I think I'm really up.
Speaker 7: Jamilla and I have an age graph that over ten
Speaker 7: years now. I feel like we're best the buds were
Speaker 7: growing up, She's like, who is this little girl in that?
Speaker 6: I'm trying to live my best life. So I feel
Speaker 6: like growing up.
Speaker 7: She was always I'm gonna to her O Lord a
Speaker 7: little bit, but she was always like a role model
Speaker 7: to me. I saw her as a really cool older
Speaker 7: sister that was just doing incredible things.
Speaker 6: I wasn't surprised before her job because she told us
Speaker 6: she follows.
Speaker 7: She was like starting to fall asleep on a wheel
Speaker 7: while she was pregnant, and we were like, Okay, I
Speaker 7: think some changes need to be like your safety is
Speaker 7: that probably shouldn't happened. But you know, our family was
Speaker 7: always money conscious. So I feel like the reason why
Speaker 7: peoplere like you listened to your older sister. I mean,
Speaker 7: granted she went to college, graduated, and bought a Yes,
Speaker 7: I'm listening. What did she do and how could I
Speaker 7: do exactly that rented? She took the perfect route. I
Speaker 7: took a very creative route, so it was strikingly different.
Speaker 7: But there was something that she did that worked. And
Speaker 7: I think virgamilla that a lot of us used in
Speaker 7: different ways as a discipline, and I feel like that
Speaker 7: discipline and motivation can take you anywhere. And I saw
Speaker 7: that she was so focused, and it also saw that
Speaker 7: she was willing to take risk. It's not easy to
Speaker 7: have a really cushioning corporate job and then decide to
Speaker 7: leave because you are excited about something and you're allowing
Speaker 7: yourself to pivot. So I think I saw that and
Speaker 7: I've been able to take parts of that in my
Speaker 7: own journey of being able to take risk but also
Speaker 7: knowing when to be patient and to delay gratification, and
Speaker 7: then also knowing when it's time to pivot. And I've
Speaker 7: taken pieces of those into my own.
Speaker 6: Journey as well.
Speaker 1: What about you, Aimani, Yeah, thanks for sharing that. Shana.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think me and Shana we have
Speaker 5: the same view, but just from a different angle, like
Speaker 5: and even being in Jamaica, I think he was probably
Speaker 5: ten times more exciting at Shana because you and Shamaica,
Speaker 5: you're growing up in the country and your sister and
Speaker 5: at the time she was doing that gymnastics stuff, so
Speaker 5: she will flip for us.
Speaker 4: And we will think it was fool. Yeah.
Speaker 6: We think it was the.
Speaker 1: One of those kids who is like and now welcome
Speaker 1: to the Jamila Show. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I did gymnastic so when I was younger. So when
Speaker 2: I go to Jamaica, they were.
Speaker 3: Like, do a cartwel.
Speaker 5: So, so yeah, I would say like from then it
Speaker 5: was much more like it was like star quality, like
Speaker 5: you know what. Yeah, even one time I wanted to
Speaker 5: cart wheel two. I'm gonna do something cartwheel two. So
Speaker 5: I think she always like I don't think sometimes she
Speaker 5: purposely knowing that she's set in the tone for everybody,
Speaker 5: but it comes so unnatural. So it's so easy that
Speaker 5: Shana said, like, why wouldn't you listen? Why would not
Speaker 5: not take an answer?
Speaker 4: Advice?
Speaker 5: And it's like it's right in front of me. So
Speaker 5: she's always been that it's not new. It's I don't
Speaker 5: think it's new to us.
Speaker 1: Not that's so nice to hear. I mean, so, I
Speaker 1: guess y'all don't have that jealous sibling bone like I
Speaker 1: did because I was an older sister and my little
Speaker 1: brother always nipping at my heels and I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do that. There's a bit of like competitiveness,
Speaker 1: but you know, I've worked through that in therapy. I'm
Speaker 1: glad that you guys are really happy for your sists,
Speaker 1: but i'mani Shana. Y'all developed, like Shana, your career in dance,
Speaker 1: it didn't go the way that you planned. I mean,
Speaker 1: you were like a real dancer, professional dancer. You thought
Speaker 1: you would like work for a company, potentially Alvin Ailey
Speaker 1: or something like that. So but the last time y'all spoke,
Speaker 1: you were like you had made peace with that and
Speaker 1: you had seen what this new chapter could hold for you.
Speaker 1: So what did that At the time a few years
Speaker 1: ago you were launching your life coaching business and maybe
Speaker 1: some other side hustles. I'm not sure, but can you
Speaker 1: catch us up.
Speaker 6: Yes, I'm still dancing, so I think right now, I just.
Speaker 7: Really talk it up to you and I talk to
Speaker 7: people about how exciting it is to be more my
Speaker 7: passionate and that it's okay to go after these different
Speaker 7: parts of ourselves and you don't have to put your
Speaker 7: self in a box. You may not do the thing
Speaker 7: the way you thought you were going to do it,
Speaker 7: and every season you're not going to do everything one
Speaker 7: hundred percent.
Speaker 6: But there's ways to enforce everything.
Speaker 7: So this past weekend I actually flew to Detroit with
Speaker 7: Ali to teach with the Aley Experience, and I was
Speaker 7: a teacher.
Speaker 6: So Aley has a lot of different parts to it.
Speaker 7: When you think of Ali, everyone immediately thinks of Alvin
Speaker 7: Ali American Dance Theater, which is the company, but there's
Speaker 7: also the Aley extension, which mister Ali always believed that
Speaker 7: dance was for the people and should be brought back
Speaker 7: to the people. So they have parts of the organization
Speaker 7: that's really heavy in teaching and education. So I would
Speaker 7: say that I both dance and I do the wellness part,
Speaker 7: which wellness is inclusive and somatic and dance. In terms
Speaker 7: of dance, I've been performing, so I decided to really
Speaker 7: base around project based work and do projects that speak
Speaker 7: to me. So it's not as full time as a
Speaker 7: company that I'm going to be with all the time,
Speaker 7: but if there are projects that I can perform with
Speaker 7: throughout the year, then I'll do that. Along with that,
Speaker 7: I've been teaching and choreographing a bit more so the
Speaker 7: teaching side is what brought me to Detroit with the
Speaker 7: Alien experience, and I also have shows that are premiering
Speaker 7: this weekend because I've been choreographing on the Extension Dancers
Speaker 7: for the last eight weeks and that has been very exciting.
Speaker 7: Like when my younger self, I wanted to dance and
Speaker 7: I wanted to tour, and now I'm touring as an instructor,
Speaker 7: so you just don't know what that can look like
Speaker 7: when you're younger. And then I'm still doing the coaching.
Speaker 7: I've given it a name and I called my wellness
Speaker 7: community and brand Inwards Space, and it's just really designed
Speaker 7: to help people slow down, reconnect with themselves, and to
Speaker 7: live lives of joy and intention.
Speaker 6: But along with that, I decided to go back to school,
Speaker 6: so I'm.
Speaker 7: Getting my masses of social work because I wanted to
Speaker 7: add therapy.
Speaker 6: To my services as well, alongside coaching.
Speaker 7: I think coaching is absolutely wonderful, and there's a space
Speaker 7: for therapy and coaching. So the power of pivot and
Speaker 7: allowing yourself to expand there's been a lot of shifts
Speaker 7: since the last episode. I listened to it right before this,
Speaker 7: and I was like.
Speaker 1: What did you think? Were you like? Oh, man, she
Speaker 1: didn't even know what.
Speaker 7: I was proud of myself, and I think I've done
Speaker 7: so much work to not only think about the points
Speaker 7: where I didn't do enough, but also to look at
Speaker 7: something and be like, wow, look at that version of myself.
Speaker 6: I'm so proud. She was so ambitious, so hungry.
Speaker 7: I mean, she was talking about being a millionaire by thirty.
Speaker 6: What I thought about is that we.
Speaker 7: Don't always know how to different versions of ourselves lead
Speaker 7: up to what we're doing now. And I think every
Speaker 7: chapter of my twenties has prepared me for this version
Speaker 7: of my late twenties that's doing all the things that
Speaker 7: I'm really excited about. But I needed to go through
Speaker 7: all of those distant versions.
Speaker 6: So when people see me.
Speaker 7: Speak now, they're like, wow, how are you to show
Speaker 7: up in this way? Is because I was a finish
Speaker 7: disruptive for so many years. I'm a dance teacher, I'm
Speaker 7: a choreographer. I did my first pan last week or
Speaker 7: a couple of weeks ago on a woman in Wellness panel.
Speaker 7: All of those versions of me were able to make
Speaker 7: me stand the place I am now. So I was
Speaker 7: very excited and proud of myself watching that back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I start, Mandy, I just have to step
Speaker 2: in because I just want to big up and highlight
Speaker 2: some of Shane's accomplishments. If you listen to the first
Speaker 2: or my on my podcast, you know this, but just
Speaker 2: in case this is your first time. So Shana went
Speaker 2: to the famed LaGuardia High School. I mean, this is
Speaker 2: like a big deal, like right to audition to get in.
Speaker 2: It's fame, right, the musical or the show was based
Speaker 2: on that high school. But then she went to fordom
Speaker 2: through and for college and the album Ali program, Right,
Speaker 2: that's where you you graduated from? So yeah, yes, and
Speaker 2: she she mentioned she does this work with Aley, but she.
Speaker 3: Was also mentioned in New York Times recently right for.
Speaker 6: Yes, what.
Speaker 7: They were doing like a day a day in the
Speaker 7: life and once people take my class.
Speaker 6: So I teach twice a week at the Alien Extension.
Speaker 7: I teach contemporary classes, and I will say, once people
Speaker 7: take my class, once they're hooked, because it's not just
Speaker 7: about movement, it's about the space I create. And I
Speaker 7: think we all need a space to underwind, to feel,
Speaker 7: and dance is such an incredible place to do that.
Speaker 7: And as we get older, we create so much more
Speaker 7: shame around our bodies, about trying new things, around being
Speaker 7: around people who maybe are strangers. So I try to
Speaker 7: create a safe space in my classes for people to
Speaker 7: just explore and express themselves.
Speaker 3: See yeah, I just wanted to make sure we said that.
Speaker 1: Yes, are you says the energy Yes? All right, da fan,
Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break more with my
Speaker 1: conversation with the Triple threat Sistas. Jamilus tu Front, Shana McGregor,
Speaker 1: and I'mani Manning. Let me return. It's Mandy Money and
Speaker 1: we are back. Let's get back to the conversation with
Speaker 1: the Triple threat Sisters. Themselves, Jamila Imani and Shana, because yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's so I do know that sibling relationships.
Speaker 1: I'm fortunate to have two siblings that I am super
Speaker 1: close with, a younger brother and an older sister, And
Speaker 1: I think all the time how lucky we are, and
Speaker 1: not that we didn't work for it, because I think
Speaker 1: we had over the course of our childhoods and early like,
Speaker 1: we had so many opportunities to just be like, hmm,
Speaker 1: now I'm gonna go like figure myself out other places.
Speaker 1: But we came back to each other again and again,
Speaker 1: and we've been through so much and there's just nothing
Speaker 1: like a sibling, like you really see someone through so
Speaker 1: many stages of life and then you get to see
Speaker 1: there and like, you know what little baby Shana look like,
Speaker 1: probably because you were like ten when she was born.
Speaker 1: You're like, girl, I used to wipe your butt and
Speaker 1: now you're out here.
Speaker 2: Fun fact, I've never changed a diaper. I literally was
Speaker 2: that sister, Like, who is this little kid?
Speaker 1: You're like, man, the way I make my five year
Speaker 1: old fetch me diapers and wipes all that, he's not
Speaker 1: actually doing it, but I will make him. I will
Speaker 1: see how long I can sit on the couch without moving.
Speaker 1: How many parents are run for me? I love it
Speaker 1: just the good vibes. Okay, So i'mani your food. Have
Speaker 1: I mentioned how delicious it is? And I only had
Speaker 1: that one experience, But I am that kind of person.
Speaker 1: Food holds a lot of memory for me, and I
Speaker 1: believe like at my wedding, I wanted the food to
Speaker 1: be so delicious, And to this day, they still talk
Speaker 1: about my wedding, but the food. I think that's why
Speaker 1: they remember it the same way I remember your book
Speaker 1: events so vividly. I think the food is tied to that.
Speaker 1: So can you just to like give you your flowers?
Speaker 1: Can you talk about your journey, because it's not easy
Speaker 1: to make a career out of cooking, especially when you
Speaker 1: are wanting to move to a different country. So catch
Speaker 1: me up on what the past few years have been
Speaker 1: like for you building this career.
Speaker 4: The past few years.
Speaker 5: So now I'm I work in the educational system where
Speaker 5: I still cook, but I get to, you know, acknowledge
Speaker 5: and be around kids, and that's something that I've always
Speaker 5: wanted to do. Like how can I like pair food
Speaker 5: with being around kids? And I feel like I got
Speaker 5: locked up and I'm in a great job right now
Speaker 5: that where we give kids like restaurants style quality food
Speaker 5: and you know, kids will give us your their most
Speaker 5: honest opinion.
Speaker 4: The kid won't lie to you about the food. And
Speaker 4: I will tell you.
Speaker 5: That feeding kids might be a little bit harder than adults.
Speaker 1: It is, oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I feel like it helps you to It
Speaker 5: helps you grow in a way which people be.
Speaker 4: Like sometimes it's hard to understand, but you can.
Speaker 5: Make addition, feel like you don't did your best, and
Speaker 5: a kid would look at you and be like, chef
Speaker 5: our money. They're saying it, like what, But then you
Speaker 5: realize that kids. I feel like kids hold you to
Speaker 5: a higher accountability than grown ups.
Speaker 4: So if you give them a quality.
Speaker 5: Food Monday, they want it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. There
Speaker 5: is no excuse because they don't know the dynamic of
Speaker 5: a kitchen. So you're giving them excuse is like, yeah,
Speaker 5: they're not trying to hear that. So I feel like
Speaker 5: I kind of locked up on pairing something that I
Speaker 5: really like, which is cooking. And I've always had a
Speaker 5: love for kids, but they don't want to be a teacher.
Speaker 5: So now I'm kind of I feel like I'm just
Speaker 5: in a good spot with it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that is such a green flag for a
Speaker 1: human when they say they love kids because of course
Speaker 1: they're the best.
Speaker 4: And also I was I mean, I mean, not to
Speaker 4: cut you. You could say that a lot when you
Speaker 4: don't have kids, say your own. So I think that's why.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh no, I have them and I still like
Speaker 1: them shockingly enough. So wait, talk about because my friend
Speaker 1: worked for a nonprofit what was it something about a
Speaker 1: rabbit or something in New York and it was gore
Speaker 1: made lunches for school. Is that similar to what you're
Speaker 1: doing now?
Speaker 4: Yes? Similar Oh similarly.
Speaker 1: So how does that work? Because like I'm just talking about,
Speaker 1: I had the square pizza when I was growing up.
Speaker 1: You had your fruit cocktail, dry hamburgers, like that was
Speaker 1: my vibe.
Speaker 5: But I think I think what our main goal is
Speaker 5: is just trying to have kids understand food a little
Speaker 5: bit more, because I feel like when you understand food,
Speaker 5: you tend to eat better. Like most kids. You you
Speaker 5: have kids that are shockingly.
Speaker 4: Like they don't know what a broccoli is, so.
Speaker 5: You you're you're feeding and teaching at the same time.
Speaker 5: And then like kids like my cafeteria sometime, Like I
Speaker 5: could would be like, Chef, I don't want vegis, and
Speaker 5: I'd be like, hey, try it and make you see
Speaker 5: better for real, and they go eat it.
Speaker 4: Oh it make it hair grow like stuff like that.
Speaker 5: Just like just educate on them about like certain stuff.
Speaker 5: It is like a good feeling while doing the same
Speaker 5: quality of cooking that I enjoy to do, Like the
Speaker 5: level of cooking is not dropping, but I get to
Speaker 5: dabble in a little different environment, which.
Speaker 1: Is pretty cool. Customers every day, So do you work
Speaker 1: at one school or do you serve many schools?
Speaker 5: So yeah, so now I serve like three schools, so
Speaker 5: three outside schools and then on in house school. So
Speaker 5: like even yesterday their menu was I think they had teriokey, chicken, garlic, rice,
Speaker 5: and spicy broccoli. Like those are the stuff that the
Speaker 5: kids they get on their menu.
Speaker 1: So yeah, deliver to work from home moms, right, and.
Speaker 5: To my kids school so they can know that might
Speaker 5: be a business venture, you know, just.
Speaker 1: To get food made for your family for a minute
Speaker 1: when you're working on my bed.
Speaker 2: A couple of years ago, we did high We had
Speaker 2: someone who would just bake us or make us be
Speaker 2: bulk meals for the week.
Speaker 3: But I want my money to also share.
Speaker 2: So I know you do that that's like your main thing,
Speaker 2: but you also still use.
Speaker 5: And yeah, I still do my catering on the side
Speaker 5: and as straight I would saying like with me, like
Speaker 5: I've grant myself that space to feel like balancing.
Speaker 4: Boat working and just the too.
Speaker 5: I work for a black owned company, So what I
Speaker 5: do is I look at the company that I work
Speaker 5: at and like, you know, put pointers towards my own
Speaker 5: business because I am a black owned business too while
Speaker 5: working for a black owned business, so you know, it
Speaker 5: helps to balance out boat gigs. Like I have a
Speaker 5: catering coming up for like two hundred people, so you know,
Speaker 5: I do a little on and off here and there,
Speaker 5: and it still keeps me in tune with my dishes
Speaker 5: because I'm not changing the quality of cooking.
Speaker 4: So from gourmet right into gourmet.
Speaker 1: And correct me if I'm wrong. But like in restaurant business,
Speaker 1: because I've watched the bear, so like I'm an expert now,
Speaker 1: and you work so late, like you're there from like
Speaker 1: four pm and you'll be there like maybe even earlier,
Speaker 1: but like super late. So does the school environment give
Speaker 1: you better hours, like are you able to?
Speaker 4: I mean, so that was part of the reason why
Speaker 4: I took the job. It was so the job.
Speaker 5: Still allows me to find time to not neglect my business,
Speaker 5: but still learning more stuff at the same time.
Speaker 4: So it's a win win situation.
Speaker 5: You're making an income and I'm learning and it's fine
Speaker 5: tuning me for my side gigs. So that was honestly
Speaker 5: one of the main reason.
Speaker 4: Why I took the job working there of the.
Speaker 1: Hours, I love that, and I mean for you too,
Speaker 1: Shanea and Jamila, like, just to acknowledge that. I mean,
Speaker 1: there has been times in the past year when I've
Speaker 1: been like, should I be on LinkedIn looking for one
Speaker 1: of these good like ninety five? Because I'm talking about
Speaker 1: stability is I mean, even though no job, I don't
Speaker 1: believe any job is stable. They can all obviously what
Speaker 1: we're going through right now, even the government ain't good
Speaker 1: government jobs anymore. But I think that's so wise, and
Speaker 1: you're right. I think if we just have realistic pictures
Speaker 1: of what entrepreneurship can look like in this country, we
Speaker 1: need more of that, right Jamila.
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, listen, I'm with you, Mandy.
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like For me, I love my
Speaker 2: freedom and flexibility my goal. You know, I never thought
Speaker 2: that I wanted I never wanted to take over the
Speaker 2: world with journey to launch or my business. It's not
Speaker 2: that I have big aspirations because you guys who know me, no,
Speaker 2: I dream big and I want things. But I think
Speaker 2: from the stage and place I am in my life,
Speaker 2: especially my kids' ages, like, I'm happy with where I am,
Speaker 2: but more stability would be great, right, And being an entrepreneur,
Speaker 2: you just don't know when things are coming in and
Speaker 2: it's a lot of eat what you kill, and there's
Speaker 2: no boss. So even though I hated having a boss
Speaker 2: and hated someone telling me what to do, sometimes when
Speaker 2: someone told you what to do, it alleviated the responsibility
Speaker 2: of having to figure things out. And so I would say,
Speaker 2: while I love being an entrepreneur and I do think
Speaker 2: that it's a great vehicle to have the time freedom
Speaker 2: that we want, it adds a lot more pressure and
Speaker 2: stress when you need income to kind of live the
Speaker 2: life you want live the guac lifestyle that I talk about,
Speaker 2: because you know, if I didn't want to maybe spend
Speaker 2: as much money, I could just chill and be okay.
Speaker 2: But I do want to do certain things with my
Speaker 2: kids and live this life, and so income is a requirement.
Speaker 2: And I think one of the things that I have,
Speaker 2: you know, grown to just accept over time, is that
Speaker 2: no matter where you are, whether you're listening to this
Speaker 2: or watching and you're an entrepreneur or you have a
Speaker 2: stable job, the other side always looks a little appealing
Speaker 2: for the benefits of the other side, But then when
Speaker 2: you're on the other side, you're looking at it like, hey,
Speaker 2: I kind of want that too, And so I love
Speaker 2: especially for OURMANI which is why I'm so proud of
Speaker 2: her too for finding the stability because for so long
Speaker 2: she didn't have like she didn't have like a stable
Speaker 2: she can get benefits, and stability is that she's able
Speaker 2: to have that and have time to pursue her entrepreneurial
Speaker 2: things where and Shana's same thing. I know she's working
Speaker 2: towards more stability, but she's also still able to pursue
Speaker 2: her you know, passions and all the things that she
Speaker 2: can do.
Speaker 3: So I just I think talking about entrepreneurship and.
Speaker 2: Being real about it is important because it's not just
Speaker 2: all you know, free time and doing nothing like there
Speaker 2: is a lot that goes into it that people need
Speaker 2: to be aware of before they make the leap.
Speaker 1: All right, ba fam, We're going to take a quick
Speaker 1: break more with my conversation with the Triple Threat sisters
Speaker 1: jamilas tou Front, Shana McGregor, and I'mani Manning when we return.
Speaker 1: All right, ba fam, it's Mandy Money and we are back.
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the conversation with the Triple Threat
Speaker 1: sisters themselves, Jamila, Imani and Shana one hundred percent. My
Speaker 1: little brother actually is a filmmaker and he works nine
Speaker 1: to five as head of sales for AI software company,
Speaker 1: and he always jokes with me where he's like, yeah, Mandy,
Speaker 1: I just did what you did. But I decided I
Speaker 1: wanted to like have a house and more like I
Speaker 1: wanted to be able to afford things. Where I sort
Speaker 1: of had that starving artist's mentality as I was a
Speaker 1: writer journalist and then I did have a stable career,
Speaker 1: but then when I went entrepreneur, I was like, all right,
Speaker 1: let's go.
Speaker 7: I stopped even using that. I was like, Okay, I
Speaker 7: don't want to call myself a starving artist.
Speaker 6: But that means that sometimes you have to.
Speaker 7: Make choices and this is one of the biggest choices
Speaker 7: why I decided to go back to school. I was like,
Speaker 7: I want more stability as I think and think about
Speaker 7: my thirties and the life I want to live, the
Speaker 7: freedom of the flexibility. Maybe I do want to have
Speaker 7: a stable job alone with everything else, or just build
Speaker 7: a career for myself so that I can do the
Speaker 7: things that I want to do. And that's what really
Speaker 7: propelled me.
Speaker 6: To go back to school.
Speaker 7: Also to see dance more than just performing, but to
Speaker 7: bring in the teaching and the choreographing, which can give you.
Speaker 6: More opportunities and more money.
Speaker 7: I remember I choreographed for the Daily School last summer
Speaker 7: and when they sent me the check, I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 7: so choreographic as we're tied, got it. So I think
Speaker 7: it's giving yourself opportunity and permission to expand.
Speaker 6: And my younger self was like, I'm not a choreographer,
Speaker 6: and I.
Speaker 7: Think we put ourselves in boxes so easily because we
Speaker 7: think if I do that, then I'm no longer this
Speaker 7: and what did you could do this and that? So
Speaker 7: I think it was giving myself opportunity to go back
Speaker 7: to school. When I tell people that They're.
Speaker 6: Like, oh, you'r MFA, and I'm like, no, I'm getting
Speaker 6: my maths and social work.
Speaker 7: And that does mean that for these next two years
Speaker 7: things look a little different. But once I graduately, I
Speaker 7: already know, Okay, this is the career path that I
Speaker 7: have for myself. I am in grad school full time.
Speaker 7: I'm at an unpaid internship, so I know that things
Speaker 7: are going to look a little different during this time period,
Speaker 7: but it's just this season, and I'm setting myself up
Speaker 7: so that this next season brings the stability. But I
Speaker 7: have a flexibility now to do all the different things
Speaker 7: that by the time I graduate, I have my well
Speaker 7: this community.
Speaker 6: Set up, so maybe that becomes my private practice. And
Speaker 6: I already have these people who are following.
Speaker 7: Me in this way, who once I open up this thing,
Speaker 7: are ready to go. So it's like the different building blocks, yeah, right,
Speaker 7: studying it with no experience doing it exactly.
Speaker 6: It's funny you bring that up. I think I recently
Speaker 6: did a panel and we spoke about imposter syndrome, and.
Speaker 7: I think so many of us you hear this phrase
Speaker 7: again and again and again, and.
Speaker 6: You start to use it over your life.
Speaker 7: Oh, I have imposts syndrome, and I'm like, you don't
Speaker 7: have impocess syndrome. You're just experiencing self doubt. You may
Speaker 7: be nervous, you may be anxious, but you're not a fraud.
Speaker 7: Like impocessism literally implies that you are a fraud. The
Speaker 7: more you tell yourself that, the more you minimize yourself.
Speaker 6: And you don't even believe that you're wor of entering
Speaker 6: these rooms.
Speaker 7: And yes, when I got my life coaching certification and
Speaker 7: I'm twenty four years old and I'm working with people
Speaker 7: in their thirties, forties, fifties, you have to believe that
Speaker 7: you're worthy of being there and that I have something
Speaker 7: to share that they can benefit from. And it does
Speaker 7: take confidence, but that's where the experience and education comes in.
Speaker 6: So like, yeah, I can sit with you.
Speaker 7: You may be twenty years my senior, but I truly
Speaker 7: believe that I have something to offer you. Same thing
Speaker 7: now in my internship where I am working as a
Speaker 7: case manager right now, but then my next year will
Speaker 7: be more clinical and I may have clients in their
Speaker 7: sixties and I'm like, I know I can still speak
Speaker 7: to you even though I might look like I'm twelve
Speaker 7: I'm not, and I trust myself and I know what
Speaker 7: I have to offer.
Speaker 6: I think as women that confidence is so important.
Speaker 7: Because we take ourselves out of situations too often, and
Speaker 7: this administration is already trying to do that.
Speaker 6: We can't do that before they do.
Speaker 1: I want to, like let that sit for a minute.
Speaker 1: I'm really excited for you too. I feel like dance
Speaker 1: is so therapeutic. I'm not a trained dancer, but when
Speaker 1: I need to release something, I'll just I will spin
Speaker 1: around this house. I will plea at. I don't plea
Speaker 1: because I don't know what that is technically, I'll just
Speaker 1: play at.
Speaker 3: I'll do whatever.
Speaker 1: Like it just and if you can and it and
Speaker 1: it just makes it makes perfect sense to me, you know,
Speaker 1: And you can use it with kids and all ages.
Speaker 1: And to have like a dance studio that ties in
Speaker 1: the mental health and like breathwork, and I think that's
Speaker 1: really exciting.
Speaker 7: Because we're so used to breathing so shallowly in our
Speaker 7: chest and I try to get people to be more
Speaker 7: deeply into their diaphragm.
Speaker 6: And it makes me.
Speaker 1: Trying to look skinny on camera, you know, like I
Speaker 1: don't want to.
Speaker 4: And I think the.
Speaker 7: And I'm like, oh, it's from dance, it's from how
Speaker 7: you carry yourself how you know, But the two mess
Speaker 7: so beautifully.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Imani and I both need like some
Speaker 1: trapped massages because I do the same thing. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I just.
Speaker 6: Think, I'm like, open up the shoulder blade, deep bread.
Speaker 4: This is the kitchen on my back right now. This
Speaker 4: is the kitchen.
Speaker 1: Like you know, that's the weight of like five hundred
Speaker 1: six year olds on your back, probably no.
Speaker 4: More like eight hundred eight hundred.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And what are the ages you didn't mention?
Speaker 5: From first first kindergarten to a do the account that
Speaker 5: I'm on now it goes up to I think sixth grade.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, okay, yeah, Well I want to get your take.
Speaker 1: Can you talk a bit about that and how you are, yeah,
Speaker 1: how you're approaching like the vision you have for your
Speaker 1: life and how it may be different.
Speaker 5: I mean recently what I've started doing that I'm finding
Speaker 5: out this work and I start giving myself grace. Like
Speaker 5: you know, sometimes we set like time periods for our success,
Speaker 5: and if the time period run out, we just you're
Speaker 5: not successful, You're a loser. Like I stop doing that,
Speaker 5: Like I stop, like just celebrate in my very small
Speaker 5: wins because then it just it gives you that energy
Speaker 5: to be like, all right, next win now, then the
Speaker 5: next win Like not because it's small doesn't mean it
Speaker 5: doesn't deserve a celebration. So I think I've been giving
Speaker 5: myself a lot of grace and just like just every
Speaker 5: little celebration, just take it one step at a time
Speaker 5: and just know that, hey, even if you're in a
Speaker 5: moment right now where you feel like Because sometimes I
Speaker 5: think I was having this conversation with Jamila earlier, like
Speaker 5: I mentioned like sometimes people have like writer's block, I
Speaker 5: feel like sometimes it's okay, like for me to have
Speaker 5: like a little bit of entrepreneurship block doesn't mean that
Speaker 5: I still don't want to.
Speaker 4: Find this big restaurant or this.
Speaker 5: But sometimes I feel like we move faster than our brain.
Speaker 4: Is trying to align us to move.
Speaker 5: And if I'm moving faster than my brain, the plan
Speaker 5: is not going to work out because we're not on
Speaker 5: this same page. And I think now I'm just even
Speaker 5: if it doesn't look like a win to somebody on
Speaker 5: the outside, if I'm happy and I'm giving myself a round,
Speaker 5: I could have a party for myself with my celebration
Speaker 5: and I know that like this is it. So I
Speaker 5: think when I started to do that, my clarity for
Speaker 5: what I really want got wider, got clearer, Like it's
Speaker 5: not a whole bond, because sometimes I feel like we
Speaker 5: got a whole bunch of jumble dreams and we're not
Speaker 5: following like that.
Speaker 4: Pat.
Speaker 5: So I feel like since I took the step back
Speaker 5: start giving myself some grace, it's getting clearer, like I
Speaker 5: could be like it's like I'm seeing the one, than
Speaker 5: the two, than the three. Before it was just like
Speaker 5: all the numbers, but it wasn't in specific order. So
Speaker 5: now I am I'm just trying to and again watching
Speaker 5: some machine and so I've been watching that.
Speaker 4: Inwards space stuff. It's like and I think that's something
Speaker 4: that you you have to give yourself grace.
Speaker 5: Like I've been cooking strongly for probably over a good
Speaker 5: twenty seven years, and within my career, I never start seeing.
Speaker 1: Like seven years old. All of you guys are like
Speaker 1: twenty five.
Speaker 4: Thank you, that's a nice compliment. I didn't. I didn't
Speaker 4: think I start like ripping and seeing the rewards that
Speaker 4: I deserve until probably like a good.
Speaker 5: Fifteen years imagine how long I've been cooking, putting my
Speaker 5: all in. It really takes like you and go back
Speaker 5: to saying like just finding something that you naturally love
Speaker 5: to do, Like, yes, I want money to pay my bills. Yes,
Speaker 5: I want to do this. But do I actually love
Speaker 5: being in the kitchen.
Speaker 4: Yes. So when I have these moments and stuff.
Speaker 5: Is not going good or money is, it doesn't stop
Speaker 5: me from wanting to be that same bright visionary in
Speaker 5: the kitchen because I'm not really leading with money, even
Speaker 5: though that's what I want, I'm.
Speaker 4: Not leading with it.
Speaker 5: I got to the point where I literally start listening
Speaker 5: to my body.
Speaker 4: I never did it.
Speaker 5: So if my mind is telling me, hey, money, slow down,
Speaker 5: don't take that catering, I won't take it.
Speaker 1: And I won't have to because.
Speaker 4: And I won't feel bad about it. And I feel like.
Speaker 5: The fact that I'm in the position to decline the catering,
Speaker 5: that's the win, because I'm not saying, like, you know,
Speaker 5: it's not rich are We're not at the final goal
Speaker 5: where we want to be.
Speaker 4: But I've been learning to be okay with just pausing,
Speaker 4: like I just pause.
Speaker 1: And what was it like, Well, I want to yeah,
Speaker 1: a little breathwork. Now, I'm just I'm really curious because
Speaker 1: your life experience is so different to your sister's a
Speaker 1: bit because you know, you grew up mostly in Jamaica.
Speaker 1: You've been here for how long? You said? Ten years?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Probably sometimes I'll be forgetting.
Speaker 1: I was telling her before y'all got on that she
Speaker 1: chose the wrong ten years. But hey, if you watch
Speaker 1: some of this, I'm curious with this conversation about immigration
Speaker 1: all of that, like, how what is it like for
Speaker 1: you coming here and building in life? Did you already
Speaker 1: have some like status here? Have you had to build it?
Speaker 5: I mean the good thing about this, which a lot
Speaker 5: of people don't know, like my story is like the
Speaker 5: opposite of Jamila. So I was born in New York
Speaker 5: and I was raised in Jamaica. So I lived in
Speaker 5: Jamaica for years with social security. I had that in Jamaica,
Speaker 5: but I just didn't. I didn't came back to America
Speaker 5: until I probably was like nineteen, like somewhere around that age.
Speaker 5: So I already I was a citizen, so it was
Speaker 5: easier for me to travel.
Speaker 4: So thank god I didn't have to go through that far.
Speaker 1: Yes, interesting, Okay, And now Jamila that story you tell
Speaker 1: about your mom and she had to move here without you,
Speaker 1: and then yeah, I went back and got you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, so my mom. She my grandfather at
Speaker 3: the time.
Speaker 2: He's passed away since, but he had only filed for her,
Speaker 2: didn't know I was even around.
Speaker 3: That's how involved he was in her life. And when
Speaker 3: he came to tell her.
Speaker 2: He was like, oh, like, who's this baby, because I
Speaker 2: only have papers for you to go to the States.
Speaker 2: And so she did have to make a really difficult choice,
Speaker 2: but not unlike many parents and people do make and
Speaker 2: have made to get their families here, like they leave
Speaker 2: family behind. And so she left me as a baby
Speaker 2: with my grandmother. And then things were simpler back then
Speaker 2: and apparently easier quote unquote, you know, like things.
Speaker 3: Were faster to get through the system.
Speaker 2: So you know, they quickly filed for me, and then
Speaker 2: I don't know, I've forgot how long it took, but
Speaker 2: a few months later, maybe it was like twelve months.
Speaker 3: I was I got my papers.
Speaker 2: I was able to come up with my grandmother and
Speaker 2: my uncle to the States to be reunited with my mom.
Speaker 2: And you know, I feel very privileged. I think that's
Speaker 2: one of the things so we have other siblings. Imani
Speaker 2: and I do our dad that we're not privileged to
Speaker 2: have been born in the United States. And I say
Speaker 2: that because it did provide a lot more opportunities, whether
Speaker 2: it was me being able to have citizenship.
Speaker 3: So early or Imani being born with citizenship.
Speaker 2: You know, I have a lot of all my siblings
Speaker 2: are talented, I believe, I think they're amazing and they
Speaker 2: are doing great within their own right. But I also
Speaker 2: know that, you know, there's just there's opportunity here, and
Speaker 2: if they were able to come here, they could probably
Speaker 2: you know, expand and have more security.
Speaker 3: And so I never take that for granted.
Speaker 2: It's actually something that I was I was aware of
Speaker 2: growing up that I did have siblings in Jamaica, and
Speaker 2: I did feel a responsibility.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really beautiful. That's some big siss energy right there.
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask about just to clarify something and
Speaker 1: just like to underline this point. Right now, we're at
Speaker 1: a stage where the government wants to end birthright citizenship.
Speaker 1: So Imani, like if it had been now when you
Speaker 1: were born here, Like, I mean, it's not officially like
Speaker 1: a policy change, but it's crazy to think someone as
Speaker 1: talented as you might have been withheld from having that
Speaker 1: opportunity if things were a bit different.
Speaker 5: And you know what's crazy is just say, if it
Speaker 5: were to happen, I think I have the mentality that
Speaker 5: I have now is I'm gonna be great regardless of
Speaker 5: here I'm at, Jamaica, America.
Speaker 4: That's just how I look at it now.
Speaker 5: And I mean, I am grateful that I had the
Speaker 5: opportunity to just buy a ticket and come to America.
Speaker 4: A lot of people don't have that.
Speaker 5: So but I mean, as I said, the mentality that
Speaker 5: I have now, it could be Jamaica wherever, I'm still
Speaker 5: gonna be that shining star.
Speaker 4: Imani like, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: Yes, I think that goes for it. We gotta. I
Speaker 1: feel like we're at a time now where America's losing
Speaker 1: and shine and I'm like, good, humble her, humble her.
Speaker 1: I want every other We need other countries like to
Speaker 1: to There are so many shining stars obviously outside of here,
Speaker 1: and I'm just glad we're lucky to have you. But
Speaker 1: I would come find you if you were like I'm
Speaker 1: going to Paris, I'd be like, cool, I will be
Speaker 1: coming and I'll go to your restaurant or wherever. So
Speaker 1: let's talk about money for a sec because, Jamila, when
Speaker 1: you have them on, originally y'all had been talking about
Speaker 1: I think Roth I raise y'all had opened, Shana was
Speaker 1: trying to get him, you know, started investing. If you
Speaker 1: don't mind, what do you? How do you think we
Speaker 1: should do it?
Speaker 4: Jamila?
Speaker 1: And just like what kind of financial update do we need?
Speaker 2: So I think it'd be maybe just a quick quick
Speaker 2: background you kind of said a lot, but I want
Speaker 2: to maybe talk.
Speaker 3: About just as you know, Mandy, you talk about money.
Speaker 2: You have friends, real friends and family in real life,
Speaker 2: right who maybe listen, maybe don't listen to your stuff
Speaker 2: and other people who don't know you at all, and
Speaker 2: then like listen and take your advice. And why I
Speaker 2: do think they take my advice? I still think they're
Speaker 2: you know, they have their own priorities and things that
Speaker 2: they want to do, and so I feel like for
Speaker 2: the longest I was telling them like invest like I
Speaker 2: don't care how little it is open a roth Iray,
Speaker 2: especially because of both of them at that time were
Speaker 2: even I think had less stability with income, and so
Speaker 2: I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. But
Speaker 2: I felt like, okay, you could do something right, and
Speaker 2: so I was just just inspiring them hopefully to do that.
Speaker 2: And so I think at that last episode they started
Speaker 2: to or what like, they had started to do that.
Speaker 2: And you know, I continue to tell them, but I
Speaker 2: try not to give two big sis energy where like
Speaker 2: I am making it seem like they're failing if they don't.
Speaker 2: But I am like, kid, if you have a question,
Speaker 2: you can always call me. And I remember the one
Speaker 2: time Imiani like she did, she had put money into her.
Speaker 3: Wrath diray and then she did look at it like
Speaker 3: forgot all about it.
Speaker 2: And then she looked at it like a year or
Speaker 2: two later and she saw it the value increased.
Speaker 3: And she was like, wait, you were right.
Speaker 2: I'm like, yes, I was, and I am and she
Speaker 2: I Mini was actually recently on my podcast because we
Speaker 2: had a whole She came over not about money, she
Speaker 2: was just hanging out with us, and then but money
Speaker 2: started to come up, and I asked her, you know,
Speaker 2: about her debt and credit card debt and her rath
Speaker 2: that array, and so I actually recorded that conversation. That's
Speaker 2: when she was on the podcast about her updates because
Speaker 2: she did do some amazing things that she can share
Speaker 2: and I'm sure Shanea can share about following through with
Speaker 2: their financial goals, because even though I know that there's
Speaker 2: a little bit of instability and they're still working on,
Speaker 2: especially Shana, establishing themselves with their career, is that this
Speaker 2: is they're still fairly young, and time is of the essence,
Speaker 2: and so when they are a little bit older, I
Speaker 2: want them to know like this is, you know, you
Speaker 2: set yourself up to have even more stability for your
Speaker 2: future self and so let's not let's not just like
Speaker 2: let that time squander away. Let's you know, do the
Speaker 2: right things to put you in a great place in
Speaker 2: the future.
Speaker 1: Yes, ma'am so.
Speaker 2: Imani, do you want to talk about what you did,
Speaker 2: like with your finances that you feel next?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think when we was on the podcast, you know,
Speaker 5: we were talking and I went ahead and I cleared
Speaker 5: my whole entire credit card deal, like just one time.
Speaker 5: And again, let's let's let's point this out, the fact
Speaker 5: that I am in a position to do that.
Speaker 4: It's a celebration moment. Let's let's celebrate that. And I
Speaker 4: think I should have called you and give you the
Speaker 4: update to me.
Speaker 6: But yeah, the credit score went how many points?
Speaker 1: It was probably like fifty.
Speaker 4: No, I think I went up.
Speaker 5: No, I think it was like I went up like
Speaker 5: sixty two points or something like that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that will do it.
Speaker 1: Do you mind saying how much you paid off?
Speaker 5: Yeah? It was five thousand, four hundred dollars.
Speaker 1: Girl, that is not even that much. I thought you're
Speaker 1: gonna be like fifty seven.
Speaker 4: America credit card for me, for me, five thousand on
Speaker 4: a credit card.
Speaker 6: Yes, I mean.
Speaker 4: Like over budget too.
Speaker 3: That's over budget, especially when she had the money.
Speaker 2: I have a friend who actually also took my advice
Speaker 2: and actually paid off her credit card. Like they have
Speaker 2: the money, because but they just don't want they like
Speaker 2: I screwed the credit card company, Like they think that
Speaker 2: they're doing something to the credit card company.
Speaker 3: By not paying.
Speaker 4: No, I just didn't want to let.
Speaker 3: Right, had that. I get that. I get that you
Speaker 3: want to hold onto the cash.
Speaker 2: You never know, right, But she had enough to where
Speaker 2: she still had a buffer, So I said, you know,
Speaker 2: it's better you paid off.
Speaker 3: But yes, the fact that like she.
Speaker 2: Was able to do that in one setting just shows
Speaker 2: you how much she built up herself financially.
Speaker 3: So prout of that.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, And I will just say I hope that
Speaker 1: five thousand continues being way too much debt because it
Speaker 1: You just I'm just so used to hearing like fifteen
Speaker 1: twenty thirty five, you know, fifty thous the card dead,
Speaker 1: and in this country, I just feel like it's so easy,
Speaker 1: and I mean, like we're taking on so much more
Speaker 1: debt now.
Speaker 8: But kudos that thing for me, Like especially again, like
Speaker 8: having a sister like Jamia, like why I take like.
Speaker 5: The financial advice very serious from her, right and I can.
Speaker 5: I don't use nothing on my credit card that I
Speaker 5: don't have to pay right away.
Speaker 4: So if I can't pay it, I'm not spending it.
Speaker 5: And that's that's how I treat my credit card like,
Speaker 5: even though they keep secretly increasing the.
Speaker 4: Amount, I'm not paying attention to that. I just pay.
Speaker 4: I just spend what I could pay back right away.
Speaker 1: Yeah, amazing, all right, Shanea, you're the baby of the family.
Speaker 1: What you got going on? You said you're under thirty
Speaker 1: or not thirty yet.
Speaker 7: No, I am twenty eight. I turned twenty nine in August.
Speaker 1: You guys are so gifted. I just it's insane, all right.
Speaker 7: But go ahead, which is insane listening to the episode
Speaker 7: when I said I was twenty four and I was like, yeah,
Speaker 7: I know. I think COVID really shift shifted our agents
Speaker 7: like I don't even mid twenties feels like a blurb
Speaker 7: because of COVID that like I went in early beginning,
Speaker 7: I left late and I was like waiting Because of
Speaker 7: my discipline, I had saved up so that I was
Speaker 7: able to have a little bit of a buffer in
Speaker 7: this time period of not working as much. And I
Speaker 7: think that's why the discipline is so important one because
Speaker 7: besides student loan.
Speaker 6: Debt, I don't have credit card debt.
Speaker 7: And I think I've been having more candid conversations with
Speaker 7: friends and you would be surprised.
Speaker 6: Maybe you're right. People have a lot of credit card debt.
Speaker 6: So for me, even though I'm not in a period where.
Speaker 7: I'm able to save and invest as much as I
Speaker 7: would like to, and I'm honest about that, I am
Speaker 7: really grateful that I don't have the debt because I'm
Speaker 7: able to manage my money in a way where I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 7: this is why.
Speaker 6: I am now.
Speaker 7: And I realized at the end of the day, sometimes
Speaker 7: you can save and invest as much as you want
Speaker 7: is an income issue. So if you're able to increase that,
Speaker 7: then you're able to have a lot more gap to
Speaker 7: paper things you want. So my biggest thing right now
Speaker 7: is don't live above your means. And then you talk
Speaker 7: to people on the inside and you realize the way
Speaker 7: you have five six figure or four or five figure debt,
Speaker 7: and then you're like, wow, okay, we need to have
Speaker 7: more honest.
Speaker 6: Conversation because this is really happening. And I feel like
Speaker 6: you have to keep up with people.
Speaker 7: But it's better to live within your means than it
Speaker 7: means that you're not accumulating time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I want to say too, like knowing the
Speaker 2: season of life you're in is so important and it
Speaker 2: doesn't matter your age can play a factor, but meaning yes,
Speaker 2: whether you're building and the building your career phase and
Speaker 2: investing in yourself, right, there are sometimes we're going to
Speaker 2: be investing in education, we are just going to be
Speaker 2: making it because there's other ways in which you're spending
Speaker 2: our time, energy and money outside of investing in a
Speaker 2: retirement account.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: And so I just feel like you can't measure your.
Speaker 2: Points of life that you're in with other people when
Speaker 2: you have no clue of all inputs and factors that
Speaker 2: make their life their life, whether that they have kids,
Speaker 2: they're taking care of someone else in their family, you know,
Speaker 2: they're changing careers, like their income. Income is obviously like
Speaker 2: the driving factor to accomplishing a lot of the financial.
Speaker 3: Goals that we have.
Speaker 2: It's the thing, right. Obviously expenses are important, but it's
Speaker 2: really income. So if you're in a low income season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean, I mean sorry not am MAIGHTI Shane,
Speaker 1: I feel like in that career path as a coach
Speaker 1: and therapists, like your life experiences and the fact that
Speaker 1: you've shown that you have you've done the things that
Speaker 1: you're going to encourage your clients to do, And I
Speaker 1: think that makes me a stronger coach, And I feel
Speaker 1: like it makes you a stronger coach and right avolently.
Speaker 6: And I know that things are a given take. If
Speaker 6: I wanted to go to corporate.
Speaker 7: Route, I might have been in a different place right now.
Speaker 7: But would I have been awarded the flexibility and the
Speaker 7: joy and the different things that I have now?
Speaker 6: Who knows?
Speaker 7: So in knowing that there's so many different paths that
Speaker 7: you can take, or I could have stayed up. That's
Speaker 7: in this job and probably continue to excel in it.
Speaker 7: But I had to check in with my gut and
Speaker 7: realize that I was no longer happy there. So I
Speaker 7: had to make a shit. So sometimes you may be
Speaker 7: able to get the income you desire, but then when
Speaker 7: you lay your head or you lay down, and now
Speaker 7: you realize that, oh but I'm not really fulfilled. And
Speaker 7: some people don't mind that. Like that's why you have
Speaker 7: to check in with yourself. Some people say a job
Speaker 7: is a job. It pays the bills. It doesn't have
Speaker 7: to make me happy. That's fine. Some people don't operate
Speaker 7: like that. You just have to know what season you're
Speaker 7: in and what you prioritize.
Speaker 1: Well, I wish I could just be a part of
Speaker 1: a sister circle for longer, but we gotta stop, We
Speaker 1: gotta end, but we got to wrap up. I want
Speaker 1: to wrap up by a first asking y'all, Shane and Moni,
Speaker 1: where can we find y'all? What inste handles you want
Speaker 1: to plug? Imani? How are we going to book you
Speaker 1: for catering? Even though you might say no and we
Speaker 1: love that for you. I wanting to go first.
Speaker 5: You can find me my Instagram handle is at the
Speaker 5: yard chef forty five.
Speaker 4: The yard is just a shortening. That's how we say Jamaica,
Speaker 4: yat chef.
Speaker 1: Where is it yachd a chef?
Speaker 4: In my head, no, yard is in like instead a
Speaker 4: yard as in y A R D. It's a yard
Speaker 4: as in the pot Ona y A A D. So
Speaker 4: it's y A A D c h E F underscore
Speaker 4: forty five.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll put that in the show notes. Perfect, perfect,
Speaker 1: And you want us to book for your DMS.
Speaker 4: You don't have a yes, yes, yes, yes directly the DMS.
Speaker 7: So you can find me on Instagram and also on
Speaker 7: TikTok at Shana dot McGregor so my first name dot
Speaker 7: my last name.
Speaker 6: You can also find.
Speaker 7: My wellness community and brand inward Space at inward dot
Speaker 7: space on Insta. I also have a website Shane McGregor
Speaker 7: dot com. At the top of the year, I created
Speaker 7: a free breathwork program. It's a seven day nervous system
Speaker 7: recharge is seven days of pre recorded videos. So you
Speaker 7: can find that on my website. There's a little announcement
Speaker 7: of bar the top to sign up if especially they're
Speaker 7: like eighteen to fifteen minutes, so they're not long, and
Speaker 7: it's a wonderful way to get to introduce to my brand.
Speaker 2: So my book, Your Journey to Financial Freedom, you can
Speaker 2: buy it anywhere books are sold. You can also go
Speaker 2: to your Journey to Financialfreedom dot com. I'm also doing
Speaker 2: something I'm pretty cool that I think is cool. I
Speaker 2: created discussion guides around the book so you can start
Speaker 2: your own book club, whether it's by yourself, with family
Speaker 2: or friends.
Speaker 3: And these discussion guides give.
Speaker 2: You prompts, takeaways, really allow you to take what you're
Speaker 2: learning in the book and really encourage you to implement
Speaker 2: what you're learning. So you can go to Journey to
Speaker 2: Launch dot com Slash book Club to get more information
Speaker 2: about that, or again you can go to your Journey
Speaker 2: to Financialfreedom dot com calm that's the direct book site.
Speaker 2: And then of course wherever you listen to this podcast,
Speaker 2: you can check out Journey to Launch podcast. And I'm
Speaker 2: on social media at Journey to Launch and at Jamila
Speaker 2: sou Front.
Speaker 1: The brands are strong, all right, Well, I'll make myself
Speaker 1: an honorary sister and y'all's little it'll be a qua,
Speaker 1: It'll be We'll come up with a new band name.
Speaker 3: And it was for them at one point. That's yeah,
Speaker 3: And they started out as well.
Speaker 1: Who's going to be the one that got kicked out?
Speaker 1: Like I don't want to put that as usual.
Speaker 3: Well we all know who Beyonce is. I got the Beyonce.
Speaker 1: Hey we don't know? Oh, oh we do. Then there's
Speaker 1: Michelle and who's cuddly because they're both they're both equally fantastic.
Speaker 6: Is this shoes? Shoes got to be our own?
Speaker 5: Because then, yeah, I mean, I'm just glad to be
Speaker 5: I'm just glad to be part of the group.
Speaker 4: I ain't go I'm just here.
Speaker 1: You're Michelle, thank you? All right?
Speaker 6: Thank you?
Speaker 1: Oh you want to end with a deep ros Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah my five year so yeah, I need that.
Speaker 2: I'm going to be kicking picking my kids up. Your
Speaker 2: money is coming with me. She's in my house recording
Speaker 2: this upstairs. We're going to pick the kids up. So
Speaker 2: we need some we need some peace before we get them.
Speaker 7: Okay, everyone just sit up tall, ground your sibos into
Speaker 7: your seat, open up.
Speaker 6: Your collar bones, close your eyes.
Speaker 7: Down, and if you would like, place your hands over
Speaker 7: your stomach. You know, we just cultivated so much energy
Speaker 7: during this podcast episode bringing ourselves, bringing our voices together.
Speaker 7: Take a deep in hell and filling up your belly
Speaker 7: as if it was a balloon, passing your belly button.
Speaker 6: In towards your hands, and then a big exhale out.
Speaker 6: Let's take that two.
Speaker 7: More times in hell and in your belly to in blade,
Speaker 7: dropping your shoulder blades down as you extail, pressing your
Speaker 7: belly went back towards your hands. Now this last one,
Speaker 7: feel your lips in hell and l through your nose
Speaker 7: in hell in and a big exhale out.
Speaker 6: We can flutter her eyes open.
Speaker 7: I'm gonna call you after this, all right, girl, Look,
Speaker 7: it's important.
Speaker 1: You gotta go to her website and get the course,
Speaker 1: and I mean get the little eighteen.
Speaker 7: Yeah you little so much stress in our bodies. It's
Speaker 7: so important outlets to release.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, chef, I MONI what's going on back there?
Speaker 1: I want my I want my I want my crumbrulet.
Speaker 1: And you'll you'll they'll be like, you'll be like, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I'm just censoring myself. You little maniacs. Leave me alone,
Speaker 1: all right, y'all are amazing, Thank you to me.
Speaker 4: It happens