You know,
I think it's important to highlight black women especially who are entrepreneurs,
because I just want there to be another story out there of
entrepreneurship and another narrative of how you can become an entrepreneur,
you don't have to quit your job and go live in
Silicon Valley with 12 other guys or something like that,
you can start small while you're working so that you have income and
you don't feel that pressure of where's my next meal coming from,
So I just wanted to know how people did it, who, you know, had other circumstances,
and so that was really the goal behind the show.
Every time you highlight black successful entrepreneur,
there's sort of a ripple effect that occurs.
How do you think that's impacting their communities?
I think not only is it impacting the community in terms of the economy,
but also just being able to see someone else do it, that ripple effect.
Oh, I can do it too, that inspiration is so much bigger than people realize.
And I see it with the show as well,
people reach out to me all the time and tell me
I inspired them to actually start taking their hustle seriously,
and over time they were able to build it up to the point
where they were able to leave their job and do it full time.
And that to me is just amazing.
What are your tips for someone thinking about starting a side hustle?
So my tips are to number one
really sit down and think through all the things that
you're both interested in and good at um if you're not
sure you can take some time to pull your friends
and really get a sense of what your strengths are,
then narrow it down to things you actually would want to do for money.
So there are a lot of things that you enjoy doing that.
When you start charging people, it becomes a headache, it becomes,
it loses its passion for you.
So only focus on the things that you would not lose your passion for and from there,
start writing down your plan of how you want to get started.
What's the first thing you want to go to market with?
The first product you want to sell or the,
the first service you want to offer and start from there.
Okay, so you were able to take your side hustle and make it a full time hustle? Yes.
How long did that take you?
And how do you know when you're ready to branch out and make it your full time job?
So the first thing I want to say is this was actually maybe my third side hustle.
The podcast was like my third side hustle.
I've been a side hustler for a while and I've started other things,
Things like a pr agency and said, you know what, this is not for me.
So by the time I got to the podcast I had a better sense of
how to really start and how to start to map this out business wise.
So about six months into podcasting,
I pitched my first sponsor landing my 1st $4,000 check and said, Okay,
we could do something here.
And I started learning more about the industry, started growing from there.
So about a year and a half into podcasting.
Once I had solidified my revenue streams once I was
making regular income and I had saved a bit,
I decided to make the leap and with the leap, there's never a short thing,
you never know if it's going to keep working out,
but you just have to believe and trust in yourself that no matter what I
am going to find a way and if I have to pivot I will,
it's definitely works for you and it's definitely your time
because you are a Trailblazer in the podcast arena,
People look up to you and your journey.
How does that make you feel being a Trailblazer? Wow!
I mean that word is just, it's such an honor to even have that word applied to me.
I think sometimes it's surreal and, and you know,
I started this out of my living room and bedroom.
Now I'm in a closet and so to me
kind of up sideways,
but to me it just feels like something I do in
my home and sometimes I can forget the bigger impact,
but it's really rewarding for me to know that this show that I
started in my apartment has grown to the level where it's inspiring people,
where it's helping people understand what they need to do.
Like you get actionable steps and resources from these for my guests.
And it's it's making me know that I'm I'm
acting and walking in my purpose on this earth,
and no matter what, when I leave this earth,
um I will have left an impact and that really, really feels good.