0:01

The following podcast is a dear media

0:03

production. Thank

0:09

you for listening to Balance Black Girl podcast. My

0:12

name is Les, I am your host. And this

0:14

podcast is all about the different things that we

0:16

balance in our day-to-day lives. I also have to

0:18

say, surprise, it's a Friday. If you

0:21

usually listen to Balance Black Girl, you know

0:23

that we always come out with episodes on

0:25

Tuesdays, but this week, we have

0:27

a little treat. We have an extra

0:29

episode for you. It's my little Galentine's

0:31

Day gift, a little Black

0:33

History Month gift with an extra

0:35

episode. Now, I'm coming out with

0:37

this episode because I have had

0:40

some big life updates that I've

0:42

been getting a lot of questions

0:44

about on social media. We are

0:46

also so blessed to

0:48

have a very stacked guest roster

0:50

at the moment. And

0:52

so I wanted to do an episode talking about

0:54

my life updates, but our, the Ed Cal is

0:57

booked and busy. And so I was like, let's

0:59

throw an extra episode in here so that I

1:01

can talk directly to the girls. So

1:04

happy Friday. I hope you enjoy

1:06

this bonus episode. Now,

1:09

my update is

1:12

that Balance Black Girl and

1:14

this podcast is now my full-time job.

1:16

Now, for some people who may be

1:18

new to listening to me or who

1:20

maybe don't follow along on social media

1:22

or didn't know that I was working

1:24

corporate jobs on the side while building Balance Black

1:26

Girl may be thinking, oh, I thought it was

1:28

your job the whole time. But

1:31

the ones that know, know. And I

1:33

have really

1:35

appreciated how supportive people have

1:37

been and how much many

1:40

of you have been rooting for me on

1:42

this journey. I know in my Welcome to

1:44

Your Successful Era episode at the very beginning

1:46

of the year, I had

1:48

talked about how that was a big

1:51

goal of mine. But what was

1:53

interesting is the timing of

1:55

that episode. So though that episode was released

1:57

at the beginning of January, I had actually

1:59

recorded it at the end of

2:01

November. So by the time

2:03

that episode came out, I actually was

2:05

full-time doing the podcast, which

2:07

happened pretty quickly and we're going to get into that.

2:10

So it was like people were being

2:12

so supportive and rooting for me for something

2:14

that had already happened that I hadn't announced

2:17

happened yet. And so

2:19

I wanted to get you all up to speed

2:22

on the timeline, what happened, how

2:24

I went full-time, why I went full-time.

2:27

But in order to do that and to paint

2:29

the full picture for you, I also think it's

2:31

important to talk a little bit more about

2:33

my career trajectory and how I got

2:35

up to this point. Because oftentimes

2:38

we'll see people who are creators,

2:40

whether they are YouTubers, social media

2:42

people, podcast people go full-time and

2:45

not really understand the mechanics of

2:47

how that came to be or

2:49

not understand why it happens.

2:53

And something that I've also seen quite

2:55

a bit of, particularly on TikTok, is

2:58

some pushback that creators can get when

3:00

they go full-time because people

3:02

no longer find them relatable, which

3:05

I completely understand. If you are commuting

3:07

to work every day and then your

3:09

favorite creator seems to be just

3:11

kind of vibing out, not living a

3:14

similar lifestyle as either what you follow them

3:16

for or what you connect with, it can

3:18

be really jarring. And I just kind of

3:20

want to offer a little bit more perspective

3:22

about my experience with it and

3:25

also why creators tend to go full-time

3:27

depending on what it is that they

3:29

create. Now, someone is primarily a TikTok

3:32

creator. They're probably going to have a

3:34

little bit of a different experience. But

3:36

as a podcaster, particularly if you are

3:38

trying to grow and scale a podcast

3:41

and if you are working on a

3:43

higher quality podcast production, it is

3:45

really, really hard to do that part-time.

3:48

I did it for over

3:50

five years and the

3:53

struggle is very, very real. But before

3:55

I get into that, I want to give you a little

3:57

bit of context about my career background, how I got to

3:59

the world. to this point, how I became

4:01

a creator and why it was an

4:03

important goal of mine to go full

4:06

time. So I've talked

4:08

a bit about my college experience on

4:11

this podcast before and the kind of

4:13

major consensus from that was that my

4:15

college experience was really, really hard. I

4:18

had a lot of traumatic events

4:20

and things in college that were

4:23

really, really challenging. One

4:25

of those traumatic events that was most

4:27

significant and that relates most to me

4:29

going full time and my career in

4:31

general was just the economic state at

4:33

the time. So when

4:35

I was in college, that was when

4:38

the last kind of great recession hit

4:40

in 2008, which I

4:42

was a sophomore in college at the time.

4:45

Leading up to college, it was always my

4:48

dream to be a journalist. From a young

4:50

age, that was what I wanted to be.

4:52

I either wanted to be like Oprah or I wanted to

4:54

be a magazine editor. I wanted to

4:56

be a media personality. That was my

4:58

North Star. As a child, I used

5:01

to create and curate my own

5:03

little magazines and newspapers. I

5:05

would pretend to be an editor. I would try to

5:07

assign stories to my friends, which they were like, girl,

5:09

bye. I don't care about this. About

5:13

this little newspaper you're trying to create.

5:15

We're in second grade, like, anybody doing

5:17

that. But I loved it. I had

5:19

this hyper fixation on magazines from

5:21

a young age. I would read and gravitate

5:23

towards any magazine, whether that was my mom

5:25

got me a Nickelodeon magazine subscription as a

5:28

kid. I doubt that they even have that

5:30

anymore. Magazines are kind of dying out.

5:32

But back in the 90s, Nickelodeon had a

5:34

magazine. My mom got me a subscription to as

5:36

a kid. And then as I got a

5:39

little bit older, I subscribed to literally every

5:41

magazine, whether that was Teen People, Seventeen, Cosmo

5:44

Girl. What was another one? Teen

5:46

Vogue. I would take my parents'

5:48

magazines. You know, we had a Jet subscription. We

5:50

had an Essence subscription. If I was getting my

5:52

hair done, I would be poring over the hair

5:54

magazines. I just loved media. And

5:57

I loved consuming media. And that

5:59

was. always my North Star. And

6:02

when I was younger, I didn't really understand much

6:04

about getting into that space or that media space.

6:06

I think a lot of us, when we were

6:09

kind of younger, teenagers in the 2000s, saw the

6:11

Devil Wears Prada, and we were all like, yeah,

6:13

that's what I want to do. But

6:15

I didn't fully understand what breaking into

6:17

that space looked like or what the

6:20

challenges were for somebody like me

6:22

in that space. So I went to

6:24

college intending to be a

6:26

communications major, thinking that I was going to

6:28

find some way to work in that space.

6:31

The reality came crashing down around the same

6:34

time that the stock market came crashing

6:36

down in 2008, which was my sophomore

6:38

year. And a lot of

6:40

people were impacted so heavily by that. And my

6:42

family was no different. Now, mind

6:44

you, my family already was not wealthy,

6:47

did not have the best financial outlook. I

6:50

was in college completely on loans, no money

6:52

for me to go to school. I

6:54

had a parent lose a job when the

6:56

economy went down, and it ended up kind

6:59

of turning into this spiral of events. So

7:02

all of a sudden, what little financial

7:04

stability we had was out the window,

7:06

and there was a ton of uncertainty,

7:09

constantly worrying about, will my parents be able

7:11

to keep their house? Will they

7:13

have somewhere to live? I had a younger

7:15

brother who, he was really young. I mean,

7:17

he was maybe about nine or 10 years

7:19

old at the time, worrying about him. I'm

7:21

having the survivor's guilt because I'm out of

7:23

the house and I'm at school, but still

7:25

obviously communicating with them and very connected and

7:27

stressed about what was going on. And

7:30

it was around that time that I

7:32

realized that I could not afford to

7:34

dream, which if you listen to the

7:36

Blake Newby episode that we did a

7:38

few months ago, shout out to Blake,

7:40

she has this really great quote where

7:42

she says it's expensive to dream. And

7:45

I learned that lesson around that time in

7:47

my life where I could not afford to

7:49

dream. So my dreams of being a media

7:51

personality, of being my own little

7:53

mini Oprah, I had

7:55

a realization that that probably wasn't going

7:57

to come to fruition at that time.

8:00

I started learning more about media, looking

8:02

at how much those entry-level jobs paid,

8:05

realizing that it's actually really hard to break

8:07

into that space. You often need to know

8:10

people to get a foot in the door.

8:13

You need to be in a major city

8:15

like New York or LA. At

8:17

the time, I was in Tacoma, Washington. Not

8:21

exactly, a bustling media hub for the type of

8:23

work that I wanted to do. And

8:25

I had all of this debt. I felt a sense

8:28

of pressure and responsibility to help my family. So

8:30

the idea of graduating with probably close to six

8:32

figures of student loan debt, going to get some

8:34

$30,000 a year job that I was going to

8:36

have to fight tooth and nail to get probably

8:39

wasn't in my best interest.

8:41

That was probably something that I could not afford to

8:44

do. So as a college sophomore,

8:46

I decided to pivot and

8:48

I became very hyper-fixated on money.

8:51

I became very hyper-fixated on

8:53

saving every little thing. And

8:56

I became very hyper-fixated on stability and

8:58

creating the stability that I didn't have

9:00

in my life that I desperately wanted

9:02

to see. So I went

9:04

to college with a lot of very rich, very

9:07

privileged people. And

9:09

there was a young lady who was in

9:12

my friend group at the time who compared

9:14

to the rest of us, she had money.

9:16

Her parents had money. And

9:19

everybody who I interacted with at college who had

9:21

money, I would always be like, so what do

9:23

your parents do for work? Oh, how did they

9:25

get into that? Oh, what did they study? And

9:27

I was just trying to follow the money.

9:31

And so I remember talking to this young woman

9:33

who I was friends with at the time, asked

9:35

her what her parents did. And she said that they

9:37

were both executives of this company. The

9:39

company was locally based. It had a really big

9:41

presence in my hometown. I was very familiar with

9:43

it. And so

9:45

I thought, huh, maybe I could work there

9:48

after graduation. On

9:50

the same time, I have another friend

9:52

who was a senior at the time

9:54

who was big chillin her senior year.

9:56

And she was big chillin because she had

9:59

interned at the this same company the

10:01

summer before, enjoyed her

10:03

internship, got a job offer to come

10:05

back after graduation before she even started

10:07

her senior year and she

10:10

was vibing her senior year.

10:13

She was there purely off of vibes and I thought that's

10:15

what I need to do. I don't

10:17

have time to job hunt. I don't have time to

10:19

like figure things out. I don't have

10:21

time to fuck around. I can't afford to find

10:23

out. So I decided in that moment

10:26

I'm going to do that same thing. I'm going to

10:28

intern at that company. I'm going to do really well.

10:30

I'm going to get a job offer to come back

10:32

after graduation. I will then make money.

10:34

I will then have stability. I can help my

10:36

family. I can help myself and that's it. So

10:39

that ended up taking me down

10:41

a completely different path. It took

10:43

me down the corporate girly path

10:45

and I then became hyper fixated

10:47

on entering that path. So

10:50

I switched my major from communication to

10:52

business with an emphasis in finance

10:54

because I thought that that would be most

10:58

impressive or fruitful for getting that kind of foot

11:00

in the door at that company or getting a

11:02

finance job if I ended up somewhere else. I

11:06

got a friend who had

11:08

recently graduated college and was in

11:10

an MBA program to help me review my

11:12

resume and to help me kind of prepare

11:15

and understand how to go

11:17

through job interview questions and practice

11:20

so that I could be ready for it

11:22

the following year. I mean I just got

11:24

super, super serious about preparing for this role. I

11:27

didn't even have – I was like two years ahead.

11:31

And I that summer after my sophomore year

11:33

ended up getting three jobs to try

11:35

to make and save some money and

11:37

find some sense of stability which was

11:39

super challenging. That was probably

11:42

the worst summer I've ever had. I

11:45

had a ton of anxiety. I was having panic

11:47

attacks left and right. I started getting debilitating migraines

11:49

because I was just doing too much and it

11:51

was really, really hard to try to work

11:53

those three jobs but I did what I needed to do.

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he's in the crewed. By

15:49

go back to school junior year it's

15:52

finally time are eligible to apply for

15:54

that internship? You know I apply. I

15:56

get an interview. I think the interview

15:58

goes well. And actually. Get

16:00

the internship I got to dead by

16:02

that company, didn't hear back and was

16:04

devastated the about time my worldview was

16:07

tying my idea of what I thought

16:09

was possible with Tiny. So I'm freaking

16:11

out. It's literally the first semester my

16:13

junior year. I'm freaking out thinking I'm

16:16

not gay be able to find a

16:18

job after graduation mind you, graduation as

16:20

a whole year and a half away.

16:22

Looking back on it now. This

16:26

so much time, it's okay, but when you're

16:28

and scarcity mode, when you're in survival mode,

16:31

Sometimes. It creates this sense of

16:33

urgency that isn't always fair. As.

16:36

Luck would have about a week before this

16:38

internship program matched the entrance to their managers.

16:40

I ended up getting an email thing actually

16:42

we had a spot opened up we like

16:44

to invite you to be a part of

16:46

this in turn program and I ended up

16:48

kind of getting in as a last minute

16:50

despite. Being rejected. That.

16:52

Summer I go to this

16:55

internship day when. Entering

16:57

that corporate girly. Lifestyle and have this

16:59

like oh no, This. Is.

17:01

Horrific. I.

17:04

Heat. Is this I hated everything

17:06

about and I hated the office a

17:08

heated the work. My manager was kind

17:11

of a hot mess and looking at

17:13

the managers and the leaders who I

17:15

would kind of be expected to shadow

17:17

and grow into in my career as

17:19

like I don't want this. I don't

17:21

want this life. This does not feel

17:24

good to me that again I I

17:26

didn't feel like I had any other

17:28

option united have nepotism, I didn't have

17:30

connections, I didn't have mentors that I

17:32

was the first shen in every. Instance

17:35

I have a Psych. I guess this is

17:37

just what I need to do. So I

17:39

continue to follow that plan that I sell for

17:41

myself and up getting a job offer to go

17:43

back to that company after graduation. Went

17:46

back after graduation and continue

17:48

to work there for five.

17:50

Years. That five years

17:52

is a complete blur. I could

17:54

not tell you one single thing

17:56

that I did watch kings for

17:58

that company because. I was just on

18:01

auto pilot and survival mode. My family was

18:03

still having a very rough time with money,

18:05

so by the time I started working full

18:07

time, you know I would still be helping

18:10

with bills, are helping with groceries, are helping

18:12

to pay the mortgage on occasion, and I

18:14

felt so stuck. I felt like I had

18:16

other people depending on me. what I wanted

18:19

to do or what I was interested in

18:21

just was irrelevant because I felt this pressure

18:23

to stay there was a good job, it

18:25

was a good company to hold on to

18:28

that stability. And. I

18:30

think that I was a terrible person at

18:32

that time. I was miserable. I could not

18:34

imagine that. I was very great person to

18:36

hang out with. I was not very good

18:39

to my coworkers. I don't think I was

18:41

a very good person today. At that time

18:43

I was just so with Crabby. And

18:45

just. Satisfied. And

18:48

I do think that it planted

18:50

some initial seeds of just my.

18:52

Not. Disdain for the corporate world. but

18:55

it should. I just felt like it

18:57

wasn't for me and I would switch

18:59

jobs in. I would move around the

19:01

company and I would do things and

19:03

nothing ever stuck. Nothing ever landed, Nothing

19:06

ever resonated or felt good or. Motivated

19:08

mean. I. Became very

19:10

good at getting the marks that

19:12

I needed to get and doing.

19:15

What? I needed to do, but never

19:17

an ounce more. Now. Also, during

19:19

this time I discovered blocks. Know

19:22

this isn't the early twenty tens,

19:24

so blogs were very different than

19:26

they were now. But bloggers were

19:28

like the kind of original influencers

19:30

before Instagram became very big before

19:32

Tic Toc exists. Did you know

19:34

these were the really oh gee,

19:36

you tube and blog days And

19:38

in those days somebody's was either

19:40

a you tube or or a

19:43

blocker him. Being. More

19:45

of a writing girly, I gravitated towards

19:47

blogs and I became obsessed with reading

19:49

blogs. And a lot of the bloggers

19:51

i'm falling at that time ended up

19:53

building their blogs to such a point

19:55

where they were able to leave their

19:57

jobs and I thought he did. I'm.

20:00

A good writer I like to re

20:02

I'd like to create. This is almost

20:05

like having my own publications. Maybe I

20:07

could do that too. So after several

20:09

years of reading other people's blogs, obsessing

20:11

with other people's blogs, I finally created

20:13

my own. And from day

20:15

one of me being a creator in

20:17

that was really the beginning of by

20:19

creator journey. my goal as. A creator

20:22

of was to be able to leave

20:24

my job. I. Didn't

20:26

start creating content with any

20:28

other intention other than. This

20:30

could help me quit my job one day.

20:33

That was always. My core. Central.

20:36

Why? I was doing at that

20:38

and I did enjoy it. It with Creative

20:40

It allowed me to do some of the

20:42

things that I enjoy it as a kid

20:44

where I could pretend to be an editor

20:47

and create my own publication. but I didn't

20:49

need to be in a major city or

20:51

have connections to do so. The barrier to

20:53

entry was a lot lower and that's what

20:55

really kicked off my content creation journey. It

20:57

was, you know, a long time ago and

21:00

content creation was really really different. I did

21:02

start posting on social media more so to

21:04

promote the blog and influencer culture. still wasn't

21:06

really. What it was today. But

21:08

that was really where it all

21:10

started and I think years writing

21:12

this blog and posting on Instagram

21:15

and trying to build a following.

21:17

And. While I began to feel

21:19

better having this creative outlet and doing

21:22

work that I felt inspired by and

21:24

then I enjoyed more indices very and

21:26

find with my well mister knee which

21:28

I've done podcast episode about that. That

21:32

doesn't release with a really very good

21:34

for my money journey because I made

21:36

it. No. Money! For years.

21:38

while blogging while posting on social media,

21:40

my social media channels didn't really grow

21:42

that much. I mean, after years of

21:45

posting and blogging creating content, I may

21:47

be had a couple thousand followers on

21:49

Instagram, but it never really popped off.

21:51

My social media never really popped off

21:53

in that way and I would be

21:56

friends, internet friends with other creators who

21:58

were posting on social media. Creating

22:00

blogs and creating things and they would

22:02

blow up and they would quit their

22:05

jobs and they would get you know

22:07

all these opportunities to do things and

22:09

it just never really happened for me

22:11

and it created a lot of jealousy

22:14

and disdain for me because I was

22:16

like this is the very thing that

22:18

I why and feels like it's something

22:21

that I just can't half apply as

22:23

being a full time creator. So out.

22:25

Of. Reach for me which was how I

22:27

felt at that time. And

22:30

so I began thinking okay maybe I'm approaching

22:32

this creed or thing wrong, maybe are not

22:34

doing the right thing I feel really burn

22:36

towel kind of wine she could break. Maybe

22:38

I can figure out another way to go

22:40

about it said out for years and to

22:42

my blogging journey that was when I took

22:44

the time to do that, took a break

22:47

from blogging. That was when I have the

22:49

idea for Balance Black Girl and that was

22:51

my pivoted. Ensue. Podcasting.

22:54

And. The rest

22:56

is history. Now the rest is our.

22:58

That's actually where the story is is

23:00

kind of just beginning. So. Podcast.

23:03

Seeing is a really beautiful platform

23:05

in medium to has a you

23:08

can connect with an audience via

23:10

a podcast in ways that social

23:12

media is simply cannot. There is

23:14

a level of intimacy when somebody

23:16

chooses to listen to your show

23:18

and have your. Voice in their

23:20

ear every week. It builds

23:22

a sense of closeness to an

23:24

audience that's Instagram just can't do

23:27

or the a blog just can

23:29

do because you are literally in

23:31

conversation with people all of the

23:33

time. And. So when I

23:35

started the podcasts, I started from

23:37

zero. I didn't have any listeners.

23:39

I knew nothing about podcasting. I

23:41

was the brokers I had ever

23:43

ban started a in my bedroom

23:45

at the time in Seattle, ordered

23:47

a really cheap Mike off of

23:49

Amazon, and just taught myself every

23:51

saying that I can learn about

23:53

podcasting as I did it. And

23:55

during this time I also still

23:57

had a corporate job. No, by

23:59

that point, I was a few

24:01

years out of that initial job

24:03

that I had from college. I

24:05

bounced around to some different companies.

24:07

I spent some time working in

24:09

retail. I ended up working and

24:11

marketing, and by the time I

24:13

started the podcast, I was working

24:15

at a small start up and.

24:18

Balance. Black girl? Why is.

24:21

Compared. To my blogging career and

24:23

the other things I had done

24:25

before that more successful. It became

24:27

pretty successful. In Seattle are pretty

24:30

popular in Seattle. I should say where

24:32

I had a good following their

24:34

i hi the events that I

24:36

was doing at the time. I

24:38

had some good media coverage and

24:40

when I learned to blaze companies

24:42

often don't mind when employees have

24:44

side hustles. Wilde those side hustle,

24:46

they're not doing well. And.

24:48

The second: you begin to see a

24:50

little bit of success with your side

24:52

hustle or little visibility with your side

24:55

hustle that is Wayne Companies tend. To

24:57

teach an issue. So.

24:59

Between twenty eighteen. When I started

25:01

the podcast and twenty Twenty three when

25:03

I left my last corporate job I

25:06

had moved to a few different companies.

25:08

I worked it three different company as

25:10

that time period. In each time any

25:12

time I would hit a milestone with

25:14

my content or have a positive moment

25:16

with my content. My. Job at

25:18

the time. Across different companies

25:20

would take issue with.

25:22

It And it was this pattern that I

25:24

noticed every single time of like it's okay

25:26

if you're doing it, but it's not okay

25:28

if you start doing well because companies feel

25:30

the sense of ownership over their employees regardless

25:32

of what they do at work or outside

25:34

of works. If you're doing something outside of

25:36

work, company feels like they should be entitled

25:38

to that. If I was getting that press

25:40

for balance black girl than the company that

25:42

I worked at at the time felt like

25:44

they should have been getting credit for that.

25:46

or I should have been using that opportunity

25:48

to plug the company that I worked for.

25:50

And that just frankly wasn't something. That I

25:53

was interested and because the skill

25:55

set that I had built creating

25:57

and sharing on social media and

25:59

podcasting. I'm learning how to podcasts. Are not

26:01

things that I learned to any job. They were

26:03

all skills that I were to really hard to

26:06

build and acquire. On my own, so I

26:08

didn't really want to give these companies credit for

26:10

that. Because they can't take credit for

26:12

it, they didn't develop those skills. They

26:14

didn't invest in me to build those

26:16

skills. I did and I wanted to

26:18

use those skills to work towards the

26:21

things that I had created so. That

26:24

was where I started experiencing. Some tension

26:26

in my day jobs with the

26:28

content the I was creating. With

26:30

always is something went well. If I had

26:32

a social media posts do well or I

26:34

had a media moment though well then that

26:37

would always create tensions. One specific example would

26:39

be back in the day I used to

26:41

have a book club for balance black girl

26:43

know. Unfortunately we no longer have a book

26:46

club at this long have any plans to

26:48

bring it back but I used to host

26:50

I Rl book clubs in Seattle. We would

26:52

read books by black women authors and then

26:55

we would meet and we were talk about

26:57

it and are very first the book club

26:59

we bred. Becoming by Michelle Obama. couples

27:01

like a huge book at the time

27:03

and we got. To do

27:06

a. Have a private book

27:08

club with her when she came to town

27:10

on her book tours. That also part of

27:12

why I don't do book clubs anymore. Because

27:14

literally my very first book club, Michelle Obama

27:17

came and where'd you go after that says

27:19

I repeat pretty early. It's but it turned

27:21

into this huge media blitz. All of these

27:23

local outlets got very excited. You know she

27:26

posted it on her feet. I got a

27:28

ton of followers that was just this big

27:30

blitz and the job that I had at

27:32

the time was not happy about that. They

27:35

were not happy that I was getting. This

27:37

attention for this event and I didn't directed

27:39

towards the company and it became a big

27:42

issue And that's when I was like you

27:44

know me being a creator and working at

27:46

these companies. It's. Probably not

27:48

something that is going to be able

27:50

to coexist if this content thing is

27:53

going. To continue. Doing

27:55

well, Never mind the fact that I

27:57

literally. Never cared because my

27:59

corporate. I was there.

28:02

To. Get a check. I. Knew exactly

28:04

how to play the game to get the marks in

28:06

the reviews that I needed to get that I never.

28:08

Cared about climbing the ladder. It

28:10

was always so awkward having those performance conversations.

28:13

Are those like development conversations with manager his

28:15

legs. Look, can we do to help you

28:17

grow? Where do you want to be? Five

28:19

years from now, babes? I don't want to

28:22

be here only you can't do anything for

28:24

me. but cut the check. That is literally

28:26

all I'm here for. I don't care, that's

28:29

what I'll be thinking. Obviously I can say

28:31

that by in my mind and like girl,

28:33

five years I'm not gonna be here so

28:35

it's Don't even worry about it, Make sure

28:38

that direct deposit hits. Every other Friday

28:40

and that's all you need to do. For

28:42

me. I,

28:46

You know what? I don't miss out

28:48

on that. Terrible. Week before

28:50

you get your period when I

28:52

just feel like crawling out of

28:55

my skin. Skyn that was covered

28:57

in pimples and cravings and fatigues.

28:59

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29:03

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shows Really lucky that while I

32:41

have these jobs, I had a

32:43

really great managers who knew what

32:45

I was doing and have my

32:47

back. but the issue often stemmed

32:49

from their managers and like leadership

32:51

at the company as was where.

32:53

Things. Would get hairy and I. Had really

32:56

wonderful Managers would do their best, kind

32:58

of shield me from it and protect

33:00

me from it by it's you can

33:02

only do that for so long. So

33:05

as things continue, you know I continue

33:07

shifting jobs, shifting companies, still working for

33:09

survival and still deeply. Warning to be

33:11

a faltering creator. Of wanting the podcast to

33:14

be my full time job because I had

33:16

settled into podcasting and actually really enjoyed podcasting

33:18

so much more than I enjoy blocking. I

33:20

felt like I finally and have found at

33:22

my saying and that even if it wasn't

33:24

this show it was gonna be. Another

33:26

show. And really, period. So

33:29

much into myself learning how to be a house

33:31

said learning. Who the interview people and learning how.

33:33

To facilitate conversation I felt like I got

33:35

to be my own little mini oprah of

33:37

this little world I created, which was all

33:40

I wanted to do when I was younger

33:42

and I wanted to be able to do

33:44

that for time and pour into that full

33:46

time and see where it could go. But

33:48

I kept having these things happen where every

33:51

time I would get you know, a few

33:53

steps ahead I would get bumped a few

33:55

steps back. the first time that I really

33:57

thought that I could go full time being.

34:00

Creator with an early twenty when

34:02

he chew and by early twenty

34:04

twenty chew I had contracted and

34:06

mouse brand deals for the year

34:08

that had surpassed what my salary

34:10

was at the time. I thought,

34:12

okay, Maybe. This is it

34:14

may be. Maybe this is time. I

34:17

think I can do it to pass

34:19

the i'm planning contracted to surpass my

34:21

salary. And so right when I

34:23

thought, okay, I'm not enjoying my

34:26

job. I think I can put in my

34:28

two weeks. I ended up having a major

34:30

sponsor pull out of our partnership which then

34:32

cause me to lose a ton of money

34:34

and I remember getting that email. And.

34:37

Just saw been. Feeling like

34:39

I was so close to the call that

34:41

I had at that point than working up

34:43

to eight years towards and that it just

34:46

got pulled out underneath me for factors that

34:48

were beyond my control and I just remember

34:50

saw Bang and the next day I had

34:53

to record a podcast interview actually did a

34:55

pod slot which whether pie casters and of

34:57

episodes are just like not good and I

34:59

feel so bad even looking back on it

35:02

now and I go back to those episodes

35:04

because I was just out of it because

35:06

I'd spent the whole night before and. The

35:08

whole drive over to the studio where

35:11

was recording with them sobbing my eyes

35:13

out because i you know thought that

35:15

I had just reached this this big

35:17

that I wanted to reach and. The

35:19

run up underneath me. And

35:21

when that happened, that really

35:24

triggered and activated that nineteen

35:26

year old version of myself

35:28

who became hyper fixated on

35:30

stability. That is what

35:32

that triggered. It made me feel like oh,

35:35

being full time creator. Isn't.

35:37

Safe Because I could be working with

35:39

these brands they could always send, decide

35:41

to drop me, not work with me,

35:43

cancel their contract, whatever, and leave me

35:46

high and dry. And so it was

35:48

so discouraging. So I felt like this

35:50

call that I've been working towards for

35:52

so long felt even further away. and

35:55

my nineteen year old self. Just

35:57

should not have been the one in the driver's seat

35:59

making those. Versions. But when that contracts didn't

36:01

pull through, that's what it felt like. She

36:04

was the one who came to make the

36:06

decision to say see, we need stability We

36:08

need to say the corporate job we need

36:10

this We need that you've you how you're

36:13

under all this pressure you need to make

36:15

this many in this is not how it's

36:17

done and also didn't help that at the

36:20

time the examples of other people who were

36:22

either pod casters are creators or whatever just

36:24

had different life circumstances than I did. You

36:26

know earlier I mentioned my blogging friends like

36:29

Sonic Him Up. In the blogging world

36:31

with all of them who went full

36:33

time had really different lives circumstances than

36:35

mind either came from more. Well so

36:37

if De Vos money or something didn't

36:39

work out, they hide. Family. Money

36:42

that they could fall back on or they

36:44

were married and had a partner who works

36:46

to had a stable income who you know

36:48

can have health insurance that they could add

36:50

them on. Soon. As

36:52

like I don't have that partner

36:54

as who can help kind of

36:56

stabilize the income as morally supportive

36:59

of my family is like the

37:01

financial support of the ability to

37:03

financially support is not there. So

37:05

like maybe it's not for me

37:07

and I then became hyper fixated

37:10

again on stability Know During that

37:12

time that was when I got

37:14

super super serious about my finances.

37:16

I think the theme here is

37:18

me hyper fixating on things. Because

37:21

I've said hyper fixate. At least

37:23

a dozen times and of walk you

37:25

through everything that I've hyper fixated on

37:27

over the past decade by in you

37:29

know, Twenty Twenty One, Twenty Twenty Two.

37:31

When this happened, I became hyper fixated

37:33

on finance. as as that with when

37:35

I paid my student loans off, That

37:37

with when I got super serious about

37:39

my retirement savings and investing in doing

37:41

all of these things and I thought

37:43

that it was a reaction of that

37:45

kind of craving for stability. Not.

37:48

Wanting to oh anybody anything and wanting

37:50

to pay myself and pour into myself

37:52

which is why is what I'm also

37:54

now realized me as those things actually

37:56

dead set the stage for me to

37:58

eventually become a full time. The. Creator.

38:01

Because. You. Know when I'm

38:03

not worried about. Get are paying

38:05

off debt. I'd take a little bit of

38:07

a pig high and. Be okay

38:10

or. You know if I. Sat.

38:12

And up my retirement accounts a little

38:15

bit. Then maybe I could take on

38:17

the unpredictability of being an entrepreneur for

38:19

a while and have Abby. Okay, but

38:21

at the time I was just purely

38:23

thinking stability. I was purely reverting back

38:25

to my. Nineteen year old self.

38:28

Now twenty when you to you and twenty. Twenty three

38:30

were really big years for the podcast. First of

38:32

all, Twenty Twenty two was like our biggest year

38:34

to date or. We had so much growth

38:37

with our audience. I had surpassed my

38:39

corporate salary in terms of what I

38:41

was bringing in between podcast and social

38:43

media partnerships that year. and it was

38:46

just a really, really big year for

38:48

me personally When. It came to

38:50

my business and opportunity. Twenty twenty

38:52

three it. similarly. And I had

38:54

reached a point of burrow and I

38:57

had to take a bit of a

38:59

breaks. I didn't have the same output

39:01

that I hadn't twenty twenty Two, but

39:03

still had a lot of opportunity still

39:05

and does up, you know, doing well

39:08

financially, it surpassing my corporate salary for

39:10

the second year in a row. but

39:12

by more and feeling like okay I

39:14

think we're really onto something here. The

39:16

podcast is truly picking up. I joined

39:19

Network. I just was beginning to see

39:21

more opportunity and to get more visibility.

39:23

that. at that point with harder

39:25

to downplay. And. Harder to.

39:28

Ignore. Which is what I was

39:30

doing. A for just a trying an assassin

39:32

a blow for my corporate job. Because when I

39:34

was at my corporate job I was never talk

39:36

about Alice Walker. I was never chi attention to

39:38

it. I would keep it very cute and lay

39:41

low about x. I didn't want to draw attention

39:43

to it. Similarly, And my

39:45

content. Though I may have mentioned having a corporate

39:47

job I never talked much about what it was.

39:49

I know people were so nosy of where do

39:51

you work, would he do you create more corporate

39:53

girly content and I just never dared because I

39:55

wanted to keep a queue and when it to

39:57

be really quiet a kind of wanted that separation.

39:59

Of Church. Faith because I have had

40:01

problems that jobs before where they catch

40:03

wind of my Clinton and don't like

40:05

it and I get in trouble. I

40:08

didn't want that to happen again. I

40:10

sometimes when you reach a point of

40:12

visibility a can be hard to do

40:14

that. So people at my job or

40:16

finding the podcast it was getting more

40:18

visibility. It was getting your intentions, it

40:21

was having these big plans and yet

40:23

again after that happened it started becoming

40:25

a bit of an issue at my

40:27

job. And. This all ended

40:29

up kind of coming to a

40:31

head back in November of Twenty

40:33

Twenty Three. What was really interesting

40:35

with the last week of November

40:37

Twenty Twenty Three, I was back

40:39

here in L A recording some

40:41

episodes of. The Food Test. And.

40:45

That was when I recorded that Successful Era

40:47

episode talking about how was my goal to

40:49

be a full time creator and I was

40:52

thinking that I would probably quit my job

40:54

in huge deal and of. Twenty Twenty

40:56

four Because. I had enough opportunities coming

40:58

in. I had done enough work on myself

41:00

to really quiet the voice of that nineteen

41:03

year old version of myself and make an

41:05

educated decision. As a thirty four year old

41:07

version of myself, to think I think I

41:09

can make this work, I think I feel

41:12

safe enough to bet on myself that weeks

41:14

I recorded that episode and that was awesome.

41:16

When I recorded the episode with. Brooke.

41:19

Divide and one of the things that Brooks

41:21

said in that episode because she also decided

41:23

to become a full time podcast or last

41:25

year with that, she had a mentor tell

41:28

her that when it's time to go full

41:30

time, it's not a number. It.

41:32

Is a feelings and when it's that

41:34

time you will now and as she's

41:36

telling the story like a girl. I

41:38

love that for you the he sees

41:41

that you have that voice telling you

41:43

when it's time. I just like love

41:45

this. For you. But

41:47

not really thinking much of it's

41:49

now. Also. Around that

41:51

same time and in the fall when I

41:54

brought the podcast back after my brain, there

41:56

had been so many context clues leading up

41:58

to it was gonna be time. For me

42:00

to leave my job soon I didn't quite

42:02

pick up on and now that I look back

42:04

and like does of course this is this

42:06

is what was being lined up for me this

42:09

whole time. You know when I did the

42:11

episode with Nicole Walters last ah she and I

42:13

actually did as a swaps the we recorded

42:15

the episode of my show in the episode

42:17

of her show back to back and I was

42:19

telling her you know more about myself, my

42:21

experience is my career, the show and immediately she

42:23

was like someone even to quit your job

42:25

and I'm like girl. Out

42:28

Oh no not now I need the money When

42:30

she kept be like when he going to quit

42:32

your job you can do it. You're ready to

42:34

do it now slang I don't know. I.

42:37

Don't know. but I I did still

42:39

have kind of her voice in the

42:41

back of my head and what was

42:43

so significant about having her in particular

42:45

say that to me? Why Is I've

42:47

been following her for forever? And

42:50

I remember following her and

42:52

watching on Periscope back in

42:54

my twenties. sixteen. Watching.

42:56

Live as she quit her job and

42:58

at the time I was still at

43:00

that initial company that I absolutely heated.

43:02

All I wanted was to be able

43:04

to quit my job. So.

43:07

Watching this person who I really looked up

43:09

to. Quit. Her job

43:11

and then. Fast. Forward a most

43:13

a decade later encouraged me to quit.

43:15

Mine was kind of like a. Maybe.

43:19

Maybe I can do this. is person who

43:21

has done a to has a similar background

43:23

is me who. It. Kind

43:25

of has faced a similar adversity that I've

43:27

faced, has done it, and believes that I

43:29

can do it. Making. Maybe

43:31

I can. So that was a seed was

43:33

kind of planted. So.

43:36

By the end of that of week

43:38

the last week and November after I

43:40

had had recorded a special air episode

43:43

after I had recorded that episode with

43:45

Brooke I had a surprise meeting pop

43:47

up on my calendar app my day

43:49

job for the Friday of that week.

43:51

mind you I had recorded those episodes

43:53

I think like Tuesday and Wednesday of

43:56

that week and at my old job

43:58

I was working in tech by the

44:00

time Friday meetings more as saying like

44:02

are Org doesn't do Friday meetings and

44:04

we usually have a culture of like

44:06

giving people a heads up. I saw

44:09

a day of that. My director had

44:11

put this Friday meeting on my calendar

44:13

and I just knew I was like.

44:16

Here. We go. Is that

44:18

they and haven't a few too many

44:20

wins. I had just joined Gear Media

44:22

the time I had. you know what

44:25

been creating a lot of video content

44:27

that had been doing well and I

44:29

was like here we go I've been

44:31

here before and sure enough I log

44:34

on to this meeting and you know

44:36

basically was told that's. My.

44:38

Director saw the. Content that I had been creating

44:40

and the things that I was doing and wow

44:43

that's great! I needed to be doing more and

44:45

my corporate job. That. They wanted me

44:47

to in addition to the workload that I

44:49

had before which was writing based a to

44:51

writing base job. I needed

44:53

to be creating. Videos and podcasts

44:55

for my day job as well since

44:58

they saw clearly that I. Was.

45:00

Doing that and oh, by the way, you're not going

45:02

to get more money for this. This is just going

45:04

to be added to your statement of work. By you'd.

45:07

You're. Not going to get a sort of salary

45:09

increase from there's no title changed and job change.

45:12

This is just B C Like to do this

45:14

So here to do it for us now. And

45:17

my initial reaction to that

45:19

upon being in that meeting

45:21

and hearing someone say that

45:23

was. No. Actually,

45:26

I will not be doing that. I didn't say it in

45:28

that moment, I just kind of like took it all in

45:30

as to take the weekend to think about it. But I

45:32

was like oh this is that moment that Brooke. Was

45:34

talking about when you know you know, Being

45:36

presented with this from this authority

45:39

figure and my gut reaction is

45:41

no, actually I won't be doing

45:43

any of that. I was like

45:45

I see. That is.

45:47

This is the moment. Also.

45:50

At the same time. i

45:53

that day received an invitation to go

45:55

on the cameron whole show that was

45:57

the same day that that email came

45:59

in they want to record Tamron Hall

46:01

on Monday. Of course shows

46:03

like that film in the middle of the workday so

46:05

I would have had to get permission to get time

46:07

off of work to go do that show and I

46:10

was like I just got this amazing opportunity and I

46:13

am tired of asking for permission to

46:15

do the things that I want to

46:17

do. I want to have the freedom

46:19

and the space to say yes to

46:22

myself, to my aspirations, to things that

46:25

are good for me. And

46:27

so took the weekend to think about

46:29

it, to go over the numbers, to

46:31

look at okay financially how would this

46:34

work, talk to my accountant, what would

46:36

it look like for me to go

46:38

full time, how much cushion do I

46:40

have and that

46:43

Monday recorded the Tamron Hall show which

46:45

was like such an amazing experience and

46:47

just amazing moment of visibility and decided

46:51

it's time to go. I am going to go.

46:54

So the next day after filming that episode of

46:56

Tamron Hall I put

46:58

in my two weeks and decided

47:00

that for 2024 it was going

47:02

to be an experiment of me

47:04

going all in to bet on

47:07

myself and what

47:11

really drove me to that decision was a couple

47:13

of things. I no longer had my 19 year

47:15

old self who was

47:18

so fearful and scarce

47:21

making the decision. I made that

47:23

decision as my current self

47:27

with data and information

47:29

that pointed to I have what

47:31

I need to succeed and I finally

47:33

believed it. So that

47:35

was one thing. It also really helped

47:37

to have people in my corner who

47:39

really believed in and encouraged

47:42

me was another thing

47:44

that really helped and again like I

47:46

mentioned I was tired of asking for

47:48

permission to do the things

47:51

that I wanted to do. I was

47:53

tired of having to ask permission to

47:55

say yes to good opportunities. I wanted

47:57

to just be able to say yes

47:59

to opportunities. If and I decided okay, it's

48:01

by this point it was December. Twenty Twenty

48:03

three. I'm. In

48:05

a put in my two weeks and going

48:07

to finish out the year as this job

48:10

and when I come back after the holidays

48:12

I want to see what it looks like

48:14

for a year to bet on myself and

48:16

to go all in on doing what it

48:19

is I have wanted to do. As

48:22

long as I could remember. and

48:24

if I don't let outside factors

48:26

or fear or doubts or excuses

48:28

get in the way, How far

48:30

that I go? So. And

48:34

that is when I did. and that

48:36

is what happened. And a lot of

48:38

that ground that I had laid a

48:40

few years prior Not even knowing it

48:42

really allow the foundation for this to

48:44

happen. So things like paying off my

48:46

student loans off the made it a

48:48

little bit easier to bet on myself.

48:50

Things like you know, Mack thing out

48:52

my retirement accounts and even as I

48:54

started making money from content not really

48:56

spending, it's reinvestigate back into the business

48:58

so that I had a bit of

49:00

a cushion and focusing heavily on savings.

49:02

All of those things that. I had

49:04

done with the intention of just trying

49:06

to create and of longevity for myself

49:08

actually set the stage to allow me

49:10

to have a little bit more flexibility

49:12

to take the lead. And so this

49:15

year Twenty Twenty Four is truly an

49:17

experiment of if I was able to

49:19

do all of those things as a

49:21

part time on the job. Seeing.

49:24

How far they go If I give

49:26

this my full time and attention and

49:28

it still is pretty new. It's currently

49:30

February twenty twenty Force. I'm only about

49:32

a month into it and I'm still

49:34

kind of processing and figuring out okay,

49:37

what does this want to look at

49:39

the with? What do I want this

49:41

to look like? How will this all

49:43

turn? But I feel so excited about

49:45

the possibility to be able to do

49:47

other things. What else could I create

49:49

were other businesses? Could I launched? What

49:52

ways claim make ballots black grow? Bigger

49:54

and better now that I have the

49:56

capacity to do so. Which.

49:58

brings me back to my point at the The

50:00

beginning of why creators, particularly

50:03

podcasters, feel inspired to go full

50:05

time is because it is really

50:08

hard to consistently create

50:11

a good show, speaking specifically as

50:13

a podcaster, when you work another

50:15

9-5 job. Podcasting

50:19

in particular is a really challenging medium.

50:21

It's not like TikTok, it's not like

50:23

Instagram, it's not like YouTube, where there

50:25

is an algorithm serving your content to

50:27

people. The only thing that serves your

50:29

content to people is creating new content.

50:31

So if you're not showing up every

50:33

single week with a new episode, you

50:35

will lose your audience. People will

50:37

forget about you. In fact, my little break that

50:40

I took last year, I'm still paying for that.

50:42

And I'm still rebuilding the show and

50:44

trying to get people back because me taking

50:46

that break to heal my burnout came

50:49

at a cost. Because with podcasting,

50:51

you have to stay in people's feeds.

50:53

You have to have episodes coming out

50:55

every week, sometimes even more often than

50:57

that, to remain competitive. Otherwise

50:59

people will move on to the next

51:01

thing. People have to be seeking out

51:03

and searching for your content or have

51:05

it pop up in their podcast feed,

51:08

which is not going to happen if

51:10

you're not creating new things. Also

51:12

the shift that we've seen now where podcasting

51:14

is no longer an audio platform, it

51:17

is a video platform. It is really

51:19

hard to create quality video content week

51:21

after week and coordinate schedules with other

51:23

people when you're working around a nine

51:25

to five. It's really, really hard to do

51:27

that. So the ways that audiences want you

51:29

to show up, it's really

51:32

hard to do that while you have

51:34

a job as well. And it's not sustainable to

51:36

do that in the long term. Again, I did

51:38

it for five years. I honestly

51:40

don't fully know how at times, but

51:42

it's truly like not

51:45

really possible for the long term if you

51:48

want to create a quality show.

51:50

I also don't want to say

51:52

that to discourage anybody who is podcasting

51:54

now or has a new show that they're trying to

51:56

grow on the side of having a job

51:58

because you can do it

52:01

is possible, but for how long is

52:03

the question. And so if I'm

52:05

going to continue delivering a good

52:07

show every Tuesday from a

52:10

capacity standpoint, I needed

52:13

to be full time to free up

52:15

that mental space and to be able

52:17

to bring stories to you all and

52:20

to be able to grow it and

52:22

promote it effectively. And it got

52:24

to a point where me still working full time

52:26

was hindering my ability to do that. It was

52:28

hindering my ability to show up as a good

52:30

host. It was hindering my ability to grow as

52:32

a show. And

52:35

I had been able to surpass my

52:37

salary for the past few years as

52:39

a creator. If I was able to

52:41

do that part time, what

52:43

could I do full time? There's so

52:45

much possibility that I just hadn't tapped into where

52:48

I thought me still holding on

52:50

to this full time job where I'm making

52:53

less, I'm actually losing money because of the

52:55

opportunity cost because of the things where if

52:57

I'm not able to go or get the

52:59

time off work or to do those things,

53:02

it's hindering the growth. It's hindering the growth

53:04

of the show. It's hindering the growth of

53:06

the business. It's hindering my growth because

53:08

I didn't really want to be there and I

53:10

was there purely out of survival. And so

53:12

these were all of the things going through

53:14

my head during that

53:16

weekend where I really decided that

53:19

the time had come to jump

53:21

in full time. And

53:23

so it's been a little bit

53:25

over a month. It has not been

53:27

without challenges. I have had things not

53:29

line up. I have had brands

53:32

take a little long to pay

53:34

these invoices. I have had brand

53:37

deals that I thought I had in the

53:39

bag fall through and I'm currently looking for

53:41

ways to diversify the business and find

53:43

other ways to scale and grow. But I

53:46

also now finally have the capacity to be

53:48

like, what else could this be? Or what

53:50

could I do outside of Balance Black Girl

53:52

that can also serve people in a different

53:54

way? And

53:56

While it's not without its challenges, it's also

53:59

just really, really. The Reading: I'm really

54:01

excited to be able to bring that

54:03

perspective and to also be kind of

54:05

that source of hope for people who

54:07

may be like me, who are like

54:09

I want to be a full time

54:11

crater. but again I don't come from

54:13

money I don't have you know has

54:15

been a bank roll, my life partner

54:18

to bankroll my life. I didn't have

54:20

examples of people who did it, so

54:22

now I get to be bad example

54:24

for people who work for somebody like

54:26

that. And as we said with plans

54:28

on the podcast is about being. The

54:30

blueprint and I realized it was time

54:32

for me to let go of that

54:35

scare see and that fear that my

54:37

nineteen year old self with holding onto

54:39

and to take all of the data

54:42

that I collected over the past fifteen

54:44

years beating. chew my. Belief.

54:47

And myself that I can do this.

54:49

And. Stepped into being the boot print.

54:52

some still really early as a full

54:54

time creator and Juri Me. I

54:57

thought since I since on Instagram of like

54:59

how did you know that you were able

55:01

to make that work? I don't I the

55:03

I don't know, I've had to cut back

55:05

on some expenses, cut back on some business

55:07

expenses, and get a little creative and move

55:09

things around. And I don't know. How

55:13

it's gonna work. But I know that

55:15

I'm going to do my best to

55:17

try and if all else fails, I

55:19

can always get another job. But if

55:22

I never would have tried to do

55:24

what was meaningful for me. And

55:26

bet on myself I think I would

55:28

have Bewley really regretted it. And something

55:31

that I've also thought about Obama in

55:33

talks about a lot is not wanting

55:35

my thirties to be a repeat of

55:37

my twenties because my twenties were some

55:39

marked by scarce the and staying small

55:41

and staying in jobs in relationships and

55:43

cities that I knew didn't serve me.

55:45

And so this is just one more

55:47

way that I am not falling into

55:49

that same trap in my thirties. and

55:51

then I am going to at least

55:53

try and also be open to the

55:55

possibility of. Things where he out differently than I thought

55:58

they would. And that also means being. Into

56:00

the possibility of things working

56:02

out better than I thought

56:05

they played. So. That

56:08

has been with that experience like now.

56:10

I personally don't feel comfortable talking about

56:12

the nitty gritty of mine like finances

56:15

in terms of like numbers And also

56:17

we're going back to the astrology side

56:19

of things. I'm a Pluto in Scorpio

56:21

girly. Pluto is often the planet that

56:24

involves your finances. My pre: to find

56:26

a Scorpio Scorpio for known for being

56:28

secretive, keeping things go through their chests

56:31

are like ah me, nobody, an attack,

56:33

a. Packet. Watching okay so

56:35

I I don't comfortable talking specific

56:38

figures right now. The main ways:

56:40

I Make Money as a creator is

56:42

through partnerships. Be a social media partnership.

56:45

And. In the partnerships on this podcast, ads

56:47

on this podcast or how I make

56:49

money to then pay my team and

56:51

pay myself and that is how that

56:54

works. Now that I'm full time, I'm

56:56

really excited to be able to grow

56:58

Match in other ways so not solely

57:00

relying on brands to be what drives

57:02

revenue. And while I've had so many

57:04

ideas of things and I wanted to

57:07

do and products that I wanted to

57:09

create businesses that I wanted to create

57:11

Babes and in Fighting For My Life

57:13

just trying to get an episode. Al

57:15

every Tuesday, but now that I have more

57:17

capacity it's I've been able to start working

57:20

on building out some of those things a

57:22

bit more and creating a more sustainable business

57:24

in other ways, and some really, really excited

57:26

to be able to bring more of that

57:28

to fruition. So as you stay tuned, you'll

57:31

be able to see a little bit more

57:33

of what that looks like. So.

57:36

I just said alight. But that is

57:39

the full story of me going full

57:41

time. my creator journey, my career journey

57:43

by podcasting journey. It's a little bit

57:46

more of an explanation as to why

57:48

people never really got the corporate girly

57:50

content for me that I think people

57:52

have asked for. It said I was

57:55

always just a reluctant corporate girly and

57:57

it just isn't a good fit for

57:59

me. Then you know I

58:02

hope that. My. Honesty and

58:04

authenticity. A stove or leaderboard to people.

58:06

but also totally understand his mean not

58:08

having a nine to five anymore makes

58:11

me unrelated Boleyn people don't like that

58:13

like that is totally okay chew. But

58:15

I can't necessarily allow fear as bad

58:17

or fear of being perceived as unrelated

58:20

ball to roll my life the same

58:22

way. I can't allow the scarcity that

58:24

my nineteen year old self. Had.

58:27

Will My Life. I also can't

58:29

let that perceptions of others will

58:31

my life as well and I

58:33

would so much rather be relayed

58:35

a ball for being honest, for

58:37

being authentic and for trying and

58:39

speaking my truth, then for staying

58:41

he. They're in a job or

58:43

in a lifestyle that doesn't necessarily

58:45

resonate with me because it's. Considered.

58:48

Relate a ball for people

58:50

maybe my unpopular opinion? by

58:52

it. I. Feel. Like I

58:55

relate to people for their personalities, not

58:57

necessarily for their lives circumstances, but as

58:59

we all tend to have different circumstances

59:01

and unique experiences and one way or

59:03

another. But. I am

59:05

most interested in. Be.

59:08

Honest. And. Speaking

59:10

my truth and also just doing

59:12

the best I can with this

59:14

current life that I've been given

59:17

an hoping that that inspires you

59:19

to do the same for whatever

59:21

life may be throwing at you.

59:24

So. That is the special Bonus

59:26

Friday episode that I have for you

59:28

today. Talking more about my experience being

59:31

a full time creator, the T of

59:33

what happened and how that all came

59:35

to be and hope you enjoyed this

59:37

episode. If you're not already subscribed to

59:40

Balance Black Girlfriend I need you to

59:42

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1:00:01

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And and we're see. You on? Please.

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Note that this episode may contain pit

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