Speaker 1: Talk about being behind the curveball. All my podcasts are
finally on one site, Arrow dot net a r r
oe dot net, seventeen different podcasts to choose from. Good morning, Mandy,
how are you doing today? How are you doing?
Speaker 2: I'm doing well. Is it Arrow?
Speaker 1: Arrows in Bow and Arrow kind of a freaky thing?
Speaker 2: Huh okay, very cool, Nice to meet you. Good morning.
Speaker 1: I want to talk with you. And what I want
to do is I want to talk to Mandy the
real person and in the way that I caught that
that podcast, the one talking about being transparent, being open,
being honest, allowing us to step into your world because
you've lost a connection to creative connection. And I want
you to know that what happened was last week, the
same time that you released that podcast, I put up
on my iHeartRadio channel, where are the people to give
us emotional help? And then I come across your podcast
and Mandy, you have no idea how the podcast gods
brought us together in a way that we could never
even think because you spoke the truth. Wow.
Speaker 2: Thanks. I was really terrified after that show went live.
I almost took it down, like to the last minute. No,
I totally I was like, Nope, too much.
Speaker 1: No, I totally get that because that But the thing
about it is, though, is that that tells me that
when you when you have the courage to do that,
that you've been doing it long enough. Where're gonna say,
I'm going to take a chance because they need to
know who I am, so that when they check into this,
they know where I've been and we're going to work
together because we're going to talk about things that affect
their lives.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent. You know, Brown Ambition. We've been
around for ten years now, not by accident, right, but
because we've cultivated this level of trust and and you know,
kinship with our audience. And I take that very seriously.
And I started this show when I was twenty what,
twenty five, twenty six, didn't have kids, hadn't been married,
was you know, in the early stages of my career.
And ten years later, a lot has changed and I
have to catch people up every once in a while where.
Speaker 1: You know where I'm at, And yeah, but you do
it in a way that is so I'm living next
door to you, I realize you've got some fruit on
that tree, but they don't look healthy. Let me show
you a better way to do that next year. I
mean you you invest in us, which has always been
inspiring to me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I think that I care a
lot about I care a lot about just human beings
and especially in a crazy world like this, the things
that we can do every day to set ourselves up
so that we can endure and we can you know,
not just survive, but thrive, whether that's financially or you know,
the mental health space. And you know, largely my audience
as women of color, and I just love them so
much and love us so much, and we're not always
loved on that much. So when you come to Bound Ambition,
you know, you know that it's going to be a
safe space for us, and you know, for obviously everyone's welcome,
but really just like centering our experience and speaking to
the to that community is just my heart.
Speaker 1: How many people have reached out to you in the
way of saying I thought I only had one issue,
but after listening to the podcast, I realize there's a
lot of things that took up this issue. There's a foundation,
there's a path, there's a guiding way. And the thing
about it is I learned that because I went in
there and I went, wait a second, if now that
I've been identified with this situation here, I can grow
forward because it's going to help me with this situation.
You see what I mean, it's you. It's almost like
you know our paths that we've walked on, but we
tend to ignore it.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I you know, it's kind of like when
you I'm obviously not a therapist and I'm not trained
in that at all, but there is that there's that
beginning time in therapy. We've been in therapy. We're talking about,
you know, the episode where I disclose my depression and
anxiety challenges, So let's us go there. But you know,
there's that you have to kind of build on that relationship.
And you come into therapy and like you think you're
going to talk about one thing, and it's like, well, way, way, wait,
we got to go back to this moment or see
how this pattern developed. And it's kind of crazy how
much that overlaps with our financial lives as well. And
you know, I'm a coach and I do the podcast
and a lot of people come to me with one
issue like I have to get out of this toxic
job or I'm negotiating this salary or you know, I've
got some debt I want to pay it down. And yes,
we can talk about like the nuts and bolts of
the financial strategy there, but also it's like, so what
led us to this point and how can we whether
it's lifestyle or habit changes, how can we make some
like real fundamental changes so that we don't end up
back in this predicament, you know, And those conversations are
deeper and they take more time, and there I'm a
little bit more uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: Well see, that's the very reason why when when you
have a subject where our gen zers exers in Alpha
are the investing in their four oh one K plan,
the way that I look at it as a regular
person is I'm going who planted that seed? Where it's
not a good idea, because I want to know where
it came from? Where they don't want to do it
because I waited too low I did before I could
get into my four to one K, because I thought
I was the allminy. I thought I was unbreakable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh man, I mean you kind of want to
believe there's no better The best time to start is
now or whenever you're learning about something and it's hard
to not play that, you know. Hindsight twenty twenty game.
I was just talking about how my first my first job,
they had a suite four one K match, but I
don't know what a four to one K was. I
was like, do you give me that paycheck? You know,
and I left money on the table. And at the
same time, it's like, well, don't judge yourself too harsh.
So you got to you got to take one step
forward and not you know, look back so much. But
I think the level of access that today's just anybody
really has to financial education is enormous, and almost it's
like is it too much, because you know, there's a
lot of there's disinformation, and there's people who are selling
certain products, and we saw how during the pandemic, you know,
people were teaching you how to day trade and you know,
start a vending machine business, and like all these kind
of get rich quick kind of side hustles and stuff.
And at the end of the day, those things come
and go. But what never misses is a nice auto deposit,
no direct deposit, auto investment automatic you know, savings contributions
that you can implement good old un sexy index funds.
You know, I love talking about that. I'll give me
a mutual fund every day. I don't really care what
the Tesla stock is doing or what Amazon's doing. No,
thank you. I'll take my target date fund and just
really like getting back to the basics, which is what
so many of us are missing.
Speaker 1: Please do not move. We'll be right back with Mandy
Wood Roof Santos, also known as Mandy Money, the name
of the podcast Brown Ambition. We are back with the
host Mandy Money or Mandy Wood Roof Santos. I've had
the opportunity to sit down with a lot of brokers
as well as accountants and life coaches, and we've talked
a lot about AI technology. And the thing is, especially
with these accountants and these financial experts, is they're saying
there is nobody to replace us. And I look at him,
I go, what the hell are you even talking about?
And he says, there is nobody in the younger generation
that wants to step step up to what I'm doing
right now, and they're relying on AI technology. Does that
scare you?
Speaker 2: I mean it sounds like great job security for you.
No one's coming for your job. I was just at
the I was at this National Association of Broadcasters conference yesterday.
It was very radio heavy and there was so much
talk about AI and kind of you see how some
news stations. Radio stations are experimenting with cloning you know,
the host so that they can have twenty four seven
news coverage, but you know, between twelve and five am,
it's an AI host. And yeah, I think we're going
to have to go through like the Frankenstein stage of AI.
And at the end of the day, it's just another tool.
Don't think that we need to turn it into the
big bad boogeyman that it is. I think there's always
innovations that make some jobs and you know, specialties obsolete,
and we're just in one of those times. I do
worry about younger generations, our younger people today because a
lot of the entry level work that tends to be
more manual, you know, more cerebral, like small manual tasks
and stuff that can be done by AI today. It's
kind of removing the need for those jobs. And so
how do you break into an industry when that that
that you know, first rung on the ladder is sort
of taken away from you and I think that that's
the challenge that today's graduates are having. And I don't
have a like a you know, I don't have a
an easy answer for that, other than it may require
additional education, going back to the drawing board. Even though
you did it all right, even though you got your
four year degree and you got your great grades and
you studied and you got you know, you you went
for the right end that you were told was going
to be the industry, and you graduate into a different
world than You've got to make that adjustment. And I
think the people who succeed are going to be the
ones who pivot early and don't don't are not too
stubborn and too stuck in their ways to say, Okay,
this is where I thought I was going to be.
This is not the case. I'm going to change and grow,
you know, go in the direction that you know the
economy is taking me.
Speaker 1: See that's one of the reasons why I like to
sit down with a younger generation and I share with
them my Google calendar layout and they go, why would
you do this? And I said, you have no idea
that everything that I do is on this Google calendar.
But what it does is it prepares me for change
that I didn't expect, because I go into the day
expecting unexpected change, and so therefore you still have that
map in front of you as to what needs to
be accomplished. You seem to be the type of person
that does the same thing where it is all about
being prepared, but there's going to be change.
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, one hundred percent. I think if there's one
thing that sort of you know, I have to talk
a lot about depression and anxiety, and a lot of
that stems from kind of a volatile upbringing and moving
a lot and kind of not having any certainty of
where we were going to be at any given point.
But then as an adult, it's kind of given me
a superpower in my ability to take change like I
can oh change, you know, Oh this this outcome wasn't
what you expected. I'm kind of I understand that, and
I do think that's an important life skill or just
something to tell you, just even intellectually, to understand that
there's a lot out of our control, and when we
can accept it and embrace it and move with it
instead of fighting against it, that's just a much smoother
path to happiness. Then taking things personally and thinking that
this thing changed, it's my fault. I have to fix it.
I need to buy all the self help books and
I need to listen to all these to learn how
to fix it and to counteract it. It's just it's
impossible to predict for everything that's going to happen, and
you've got to give yourself grace and just understand that. Yeah,
and as the saying goes, like stuff happens.
Speaker 1: Well, you keep it very real in the way that
I really dug the way that you went into couples
who are separated on the idea of what saving money
is all about. My wife and I she isn't one
who likes to save money.
Speaker 2: Me.
Speaker 1: I'm a total freak. Turn off the light, close the door.
Please do not buy twelve pair of Tanta shoes. You
only need one. So it's like it's like, you know,
I love the way that you're very open and honest
with this because we do come in as separated people
or separate people, but we've got to work as one
business underneath this roof.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, in an ideal world you are. And I
think where a lot of couples find challenges is where
they don't understand each other's relationship to money. Yep, and
especially and I think if you're coming into relationship and
maybe y'all have you know, you've been separated from another
relationship or a divorce, and you're coming in a bit
more mature, that's different. But yeah, certainly in like younger relationships,
I think a lot of us go in with rose
colored classes and in some ways you can't really know
how people are gonna behave financially until you get into
a relationship deep, and then you have to be willing
to have those difficult conversations. I'm a huge proponent of
financial therapy and also couples counseling, Like, yes, there are
therapists who specialize and who have a special uh like
a specialization in financial finances as well, and coupling that
with like a good marriage counselor like you need it.
It's not taboo, it's not it's not wrong. It's not
like you're not doing it right if you need those
extra supports. But no one really prepares us to manage
finances in a household, you know, as as finances get
more difficult, and getting that help is okay.
Speaker 1: The vibration that you bring the leadership and the confidence
that you bring to the podcast is is to me.
It's like you understand that you are the president and
CEO of ME Incorporated, and you understand that what you've
learned in life through building wealth and financial security isn't
necessarily yours to hold, but it's to share. And the
way that you present yourself on this podcast. You don't
come in there as a news anchor. Here's what's going
on in the financial news. No, you come in there
and you just talk with us, and I say, God Almighty,
this is a blessing.
Speaker 2: Oh thank you. I really appreciate that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: But to keep it so real though, I mean, it's
almost like, in a very creative way, you're saying, I've
been to Hell. I don't want you to go there.
I'm gonna do everything I can to give you the
information so you don't go in that direction. I need
you to go this way instead.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I really see myself working alongside my community with
the Brown Ambition listeners. I'm right there with you. I'm
in the trenches. It's not about me being on some
pedestal just because I have a microphone. I'm not the
end all be all and have all the answers, and
I think that people come back to the show and
have for ten years and eight hundred something episodes because
it feels like, Okay, I'm on this journey, you know
with Mandy, and yes I'm learning something, but you know,
we're also learning together, and she makes me feel welcome here.
That's really what Brown Ambition's about, Like you're welcome into
these conversations. You're welcome without even knowing everything or having
all the right things to say, and it's a real
back and forth. You know, I get into those comments
with my listeners and I want to hear from them,
and I think building that level of trust and yes,
authenticity is AI can't replicate that. You know, there's no
bot that can do what we do, and I think
people are really going to be craving that real human
connection and I'm happy that you know that's what we
have on Brown Ambition.
Speaker 1: Do you have a future episode ready to go when
it comes to the one thing that's happening that a
lot of people don't want to talk about, and that
is the disappearance of the Penny. I mean, we were
told this past week that it's going away, and we
now have to keep written documentation of how many we
have left because we're not getting any more.
Speaker 2: Do you have a lot of penny, Ara, Yes we do.
Speaker 1: Yes, I can't.
Speaker 2: I don't think I've seen a penny in this house. Listen,
I don't even carry a wallet. I am fully an
Apple Wallet girl. I can't shop at Walmart because they
don't take Apple Wallet, and I barely know where my
physical credit cards are any day. So yeah, I'm all right,
I'm not going to miss the penny. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: See, I'm having the biggest problem with that. And that
might be because I'm ancient and old. But the thing is,
I don't want to jump to Apple and I don't
want to go to cash app. And the reason being
is because I already know what the ATM card did
to my personal life. I spent it too fast once
once I got that card. Now it's on my phone,
I'm going to spend it faster.
Speaker 2: No, you do. You do raise a good point between
that and like being able to save all your credit
card info to your web browsers so you don't have
to even go find your wallet. The lack of friction,
I mean, it's capitalism, Like they literally have people in
labs trying to figure out how do we make it
easier for these people to spend their money. That's one
of the reasons I actually I got rid of recently. Well,
the Target boycott was great for my finances. Loved it.
I was like, we're not shopping there, amazing, I'm going
to save so much money. So boycotting Target since January
has been great. And then also I got rid of
my Amazon Prime subscription. Do you know you can still
shop there even and you can still get free shipping.
You don't have to have Prime, you can. You just
have to wait, you know, a couple of days. And
and adding that friction in that way was really helpful
to me, you know, financially. I'm a mom, and I
definitely got into that addicting kind of cycle of Oh,
we need it, let's just order it, Let's just order
another package, another package. And to your point, like money
was just flying out the door, and I hated it.
I and plus stuff's just piling up and simplifying and
adding more friction back has been helpful. But I I'm
a busy mom. I got I have like undiagnosed ADHD.
I lose my wallet all the time. I just like
having the one thing. I like having the one thing,
having my thought.
Speaker 1: I love your human side.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you keep your pennies and you do you boo.
That's always that you do, you boo. You know what,
it's your one life, your one precious life. Keep your coins.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about crypto because it's taken a big hit
in the past. Couple of monis yea, why, okay, sure,
Well it's only because my financial guy will not let
me invest in it. But I'm seeing all these people
make millions and billions of dollars. But I'm also seeing
a lot of people lose money. My financial guy's going, see,
I told you, I told you.
Speaker 2: Well, listen, I think with you know crypto, Ugh, Crypto
is like any other asset you're you know, you don't
want to put all your eggs into just one assets basket.
But if you've got a healthy for one k, you've
got you know, you've got six months of emergency savings,
you got job security, you know, you're you have a
well diversified investment portfolio. You're you're investing in saving towards
your long term goals, and you got some extra money
kicking around that you can play with and yeah, go
get some crypto like whatever. I'm not going to begrudge anybody.
They're little, you know, they're getting No one tells like
gambling is legal. You know, people go to Vegas and
but you have to understand you are gambling with that
money in crypto and it's so I think it has
to be a conversation with a financial planner so that
your holistic financial picture and makes sense for that and
you're not over exposing yourself to risk because then you
can you know, you have those you have those people
who yeah, can lose, can lose everything, and it doesn't
have to be that way.
Speaker 1: Wow. Where can people go to find out more about you?
Because twenty minutes with you, Miss Mandy Money, it's just
not enough. I need to have more. I need to
dig in and because you've got the plan and I
need to get on that path.
Speaker 2: Oh wonderful. You can check out Brown Ambition Podcast. You
can find us on iHeart wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also find me on Instagram at broad Ambition Podcast,
also at Mandy Money. And you know, just get in,
get into the community. Come on in. It's nice and warm,
and you're warm and Fuzzy. We take care of each other.
Hope to see you all there.
Speaker 1: Please come back to this show anytime in the future.
The door is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you, Erro.
Speaker 1: Take care, be brilliant okay,