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This month we're celebrating Women's History Month! Lucky for us we were able to catch up with a woman set on making history, Christina Topacio, former Marketing and Communications Director and blogger at Profresh Style. She's now taking her talents offline (just a bit) as the woman behind the new community for creative, entrepreneurial women Jig+Saw, an all female co-working space in Los Angeles. During our chat we find out what it takes to be a true boss, what Christina learned pitching potential investors and more! You don't want to miss this revealing interview where we really cover it all from fear to success and dreams to actions. What we're talking about: How to navigate living in fear The realities of financial responsibility in chasing your dream job The importance of sharing and talking about your ideas Check out Christina on Instagram at @Profreshstyle and check out Jig+Saw on IG @jigplussaw or visit the website www.Jigplussaw.com Subscribe to the Life According To Her podcast now at: iTunes or Soundcloud Like, rate and review! Highlight to tweet and share the goodness with friends! "You can't live in fear that someone will take the [your] idea. If they take your idea...it was never your idea to begin with." - @profreshstyle #LATHpodcast "There is a niche for everyone and everyone serves a purpose." - @profreshstyle #LATHpodcast #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #smallbusiness #digitalcareers #lathpodcast #remoteyear #workingremotely #jigsaw #ChristinaTopacio #ProfreshStyleblogger

7 Minute Sunday with host Ahyiana Angel sharing on support being fleeting when you need it. Subscribe to the Life According To Her podcast now on iTunes or Soundcloud to make sure you stay in the loop! Feel free to share this podcast with an equally ambitious friend! #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #selfhelppodcast #smallbusiness #digitalcareers #businesspitching #lathpodcast #KandiBurrussTucker #LaurenLake #CarlaHall #NBAAllStar #NBAAllStarNewOrleans #ambitiouswomen

The February Book Chat book of the month is The Keys by DJ Khaled. DJ Khaled has become a Snapchat sensation, he's been a music business mogul, a successful entrepreneur and recording artist. His first venture into book publishing is apparently the book they don't want you to read, it reveals his major keys to success. Host, Ahyiana Angel shares her thoughts on The Keys as well as her Five Faves from the book. In the book DJ Khaled lets readers in on his journey to success, he also shares his tips on how to navigate through life and the music business. Subscribe to the Life According To Her podcast now at iTunes or Soundcloud to make sure you stay in the loop! And if you like what you hear, please give us a great review! What we're talking about: Being confident in yourself Not giving "they" your energy Top 5 favs from the book DJ Khaled and branding Share the goodness of this podcast with an equally ambitious friend! #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #selfhelppodcast #businesspitching #lathpodcast #TheKeys #DJKhaledbook #DJKhaled #BookChat

"Life throws us all these kind of curve balls that we do not plan for, we don't feel ready for but it's taking that experience and allowing it to grow us into what we're really meant to do." Words of wisdom by Professional Organizer Melissa Harris of The Feel Free Club. Host, Ahyiana Angel, has a Switch, Pivot or Quit Chat with Melissa who transitioned from a corporate professional to a Professional Organizer. What we're talking about: Self reflection and what questions to ask yourself when you're trying to navigate change in your life What role organization plays in making huge shifts in your life Looking within for answers vs being reactive when problems or situations arise The personal growth that has to come before your professional growth Get your life sorted and follow Melissa on Instagram at @thefeelfreeclub and check out her website The Feel Free Club Subscribe to the Life According To Her podcast now at iTunes or Soundcloud to make sure you stay in the loop! Highlight to tweet and share the goodness with friends! "Life throws us all these kind of curve balls that we do not plan for, we don't feel ready for but it's taking that experience and allowing it to grow us into what we're really meant to do." - @thefeelfreeclub #LATHpodcast "The reason why it's vary scary [change] is because you don't feel prepared for the thing that you say that you want." - @thefeelfreeclub #LATHpodcast #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #smallbusiness #digitalcareers #lathpodcast #remoteyear #workingremotely #MelissaHarrisProfessionalOrganizer #FeelFreeClub

Host Ahyiana Angel reflects on her career, begins to share her story and talks about life working at the National Basketball Association (NBA) during NBA All-Star weekend. If you have any follow-up questions that you would like me to dress on an upcoming episode feel free to shoot me an email at connect@lifeaccordingtoher.com! Click here to check out the video on Instagram. Subscribe to the Life According To Her podcast now on iTunes or Soundcloud to make sure you stay in the loop! Feel free to share this podcast with an equally ambitious friend! #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #selfhelppodcast #smallbusiness #digitalcareers #CentricTV #CentricTV #CentricTVQueenBoss #QueenBossrealityshow #QueenBoss #blacksharktank #businesspitching #lathpodcast #KandiBurrussTucker #LaurenLake #CarlaHall #NBAAllStar #NBAAllStarNewOrleans

Have you ever wanted to drop your current lifestyle, pack up a suitcase and embark on a journey with a program like the Remote Year, traveling to 12 cities around the world in 12 months? Host, Ahyiana Angel, caught up with Dana Blair, who recently resigned from her highly coveted on-air host position at Essence.com to do just that! She's an NYC marathon running, trained ballet dancing bold beauty who's interviewed your favorite celebrities favorite celebrity and been featured by the likes of Yahoo! and Man Repeller. What we're talking about: The process of accepting a spot in the Remote Year program Leaving a coveted position in entertainment Learning to let go of what people think about you Saying goodbye to relationships that no longer serve you Catch Dana's latest uploads on I Have Never Been That Girl and don't miss all of her adventures on Instagram @JustDanaBlair Subscribe to the podcast now at iTunes to make sure you stay in the loop! Share the goodness with a friend! "Sometimes, after you make a plan, you still have anxiety and fears." - @justdanablair "Our imagination can be our greatest asset or our greatest liability, and you don't want it to be your liability." - @justdanablair #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #smallbusiness #digitalcareers #lathpodcast #remoteyear #workingremotely #DanaBlair #EssenceLive #Essence

Daily, people experience social media envy, which sparked popular YouTuber Miss Kris to declare that "Being popular on social media is like being rich in monopoly money." Her comment, posted on the @SwitchPivotorQuit Instagram, sent the comments section a buzz. Host, Ahyiana Angel, gains insight from Miss Kris and seasoned blogger Danielle Gray on what it takes to be a social media influencer, cultivating an audience, and the benefits of having a small social media following. You don't want to miss this chat on the business of social media and more where the ladies keep it candid. Danielle Gray - http://www.thestyleandbeautydoctor.com Miss Kris - http://www.thelifeandtimesofmisskris.com Subscribe to the Life According To Her podcast now at iTunes or Soundcloud to make sure you stay in the loop! What we're talking about: Insights on the game of social media influence The importance of cultivating an audience Is authenticity and simplicity the next phase of blogging and social media? We tackle the topic of the 9 to 5 still being real life for many Share the goodness with a friend! "It's like walking around the mall with a fake Louie Vuitton purse, it looks good but it has no real value." - @misskristagram "Susie has a million followers, but let's say 650,000 of them are guys that are there to only look at Susie's booty!" - @stylenbeautydoc "Your followers and all of that sort of clout is fake because you're not able to capitalize off of it..." - @misskristagram #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #smallbusiness #digitalcareers #lathpodcast #KristenTurner #DanielleGray #thestyleandbeautydoctor #stylenbeautydoc #MissKris Hey girl. Hey, and thanks for dropping in to the Switch, pivot, or quit podcast. Candid convo for the girl needing a lifestyle plot twist when she's deciding if it's time to switch, pivot, or quit. I'm Ahyiana Angel, a former sports entertainment publicist in New York City. Turn, traditionally published author with Simon and Schuster, who quit my old life to write a book live in London for a bit, and explore my dreams, to find my happiness and. I'm here to help encourage and guide you through your plot twist years as your chief encourager and host of the Switch, pivot, or quit podcast. In today's show, we're gonna touch on a topic that caused some good juicy commentary. The post that I posted said something along the lines of this being popular on social media is like being rich in Monopoly money. The ladies you're about to meet. I consider them very knowledgeable women. And actually for the purposes of this conversation, I think it's important to note that both women on Instagram, More than 10,000 followers. All right, so on the line with us today, we have Miss Chris, who is the affordable luxury Queen and tubing, big hair beauty with more than 2.5 million views. And then we have Danielle, who is a fashion and beauty consultant, as well as a freelance writer and creator of the Style and Beauty Doctor blog. So welcome to the show, ladies. Hello. Hey, so Ms. Chris, we are going to start with you. I want you to tell us, yeah, what was your thought process when you made the comment that said being popular on social media is like being rich in Monopoly money? Well I saw your comment and I would like to thank you for having me on because I feel like I need to explain myself. I. you know, having lots of Instagram followers, it can be fake like Monopoly money. It can also be like walking around with a fake Louis Vuitton purse. Okay. But let me sort of back up, I think and give the lead in the context to which I said that I believe the conversation we were talking about had something to do about just the facade and the smoke and mirrors of Instagram. Right? Right. So you follow. These influencers or people with these huge accounts, like huge numbers, and you're seeing their fantastic and fabulous photos, and that's their highlight reel and they're putting it out there and you're following and buying into it. But because I know people and. Following and knowing things I know then sometimes the back end means, you know, maybe some bills aren't getting paid or things aren't always as they seem financially, and so I was talking about folks not being able to translate. Followers like engagement into coins. That means, in my opinion, that your followers and all of that sort of clout, it's, it's fake because you're not able to really capitalize off of it, which for many of us as a business, like that's what we're here to do. So you can't turn your followers and your engagements and your like and all that kind of stuff into Instagram into a viable business. Like what good is it? It's like walking around the mall with a fake Louis Vu. Purse. It looks good, but it has no real value. Ah, okay. That's what I meant by, I was gonna clarify. Some people had misconstrue what I was saying. Baton, she said, don't carry baton. Don't try to play with that. Don't try. So, Danielle, when that comment was made, what were your thoughts on the topic I totally agree as I do with many things that Ms. Chris says. It's funny because not too long ago, I wanna say maybe it less than two years ago, I read an article on, it was online, it was an actual reputable site, and they did a story on people who have large YouTube followings that could be anywhere from like, , over 200,000, 300,000, maybe even over a million followers. And these are people who like, they can barely go outside because people are like, oh my God, it's you. I love you, daddy, yada. But these people still. And, and when I say still work a regular job, I'm, I'm not saying that like I'm talking down on anybody cuz shoot, I worked a regular job for, you know, more than a decade. So there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a regular job, but, What this article was talking about was the fact that these people had like all of this fame on YouTube, but then, you know, they would go clocking at their regular job and they could, you know, bear, they could barely do their job or like their managers or whoever were complaining because they would be so much disruption because their fans were showing up and the same people would try to monetize. But the audience would get kind of like hostile with them because anytime they would try to do an ad, they would get upset and like, oh, you know, you're not being real. You know, this is not the content I'm used to getting from you and, why are you selling out? And, you know, those type of comments. And then one thing I really took away from that was like, wow, this person has a lot of people who love them. But they haven't really had a chance to cultivate their audience. So yeah, I read a lot of articles on influencer marketing cuz you know, I like to keep abreast of what's going on in the industry. And I think a lot of things that, , not only influencers but brands as well get misconstrued a lot, is that they'll see somebody with a million followers and they're think like, oh my God, that's a home run far brand because that's a million eyeballs. That's a million people that trust this influencer love. You know, want to hear what this person has to say. But I think what happens is when that audience is not cultivated, who knows what these people are interested in. So it's. You know, you can be throwing out some kind of messaging there. You can be putting some sort of ad or something that you're trying to monetize, but then it doesn't work because then it's like, okay, so Susie has a million followers, but let's say like 600, 650,000 of them are guys that are only there to look at. Susie's Booty doesn't add for a lipstick company. That's more than ever audience that's not tuning in for that. So I really think that you know, people aren't really cultivating their audiences and I've heard other influencers say, well, I don't have a hundred thousand followers and I don't have this, and you really don't need it. What you really need to do is cultivate your audience if you target a certain niche. That right there, you could have 5,000 followers, but if you are really engaging with your audience, the audience engages with you. If you are talking about like, I don't know, green jackets all the time on green fashion and all you took about is green fashion, even if you have like a thousand thousand, 3000 followers, those people are really engaged with you. Mm-hmm. You can probably monetize more than than Susie who has a million. More than half of which are guys that like look at Susie's booty. Right. Well I think the engagement key in everything you said, I think the engagement is really the key word. And I wish I could like just shake brands and really get them to understand that. But like I did a collaboration one time with the YouTube star and she is like a huge following. I mean like mine was like peanut compared to the following she had. But you know how brands be tracking everything with their little bit, they links and whatnot. And when we went back and looked at everything, my smaller audience, because we as homies like that over there on youtube.com/ms. Chris, we actually drove more eyeballs to their website than the other girl that I collaborated with. So it just really has to go with engagement and I think that's key and I wish brands would understand that. . I'd rather have 10 dope homies that you know, like what I do and I can provide them with good. Content and we can just live happily ever after. So it's about, being targeted and it's about also having influence. I know Danielle, you mentioned that word influence, and I think that people use that term loosely and that's how a comment such as Christians can be made because everybody wants to call themselves an influencer, especially once they reach a certain. Status, let's say, on any social media platform, then they are perceived as, or they might perceive themselves as an influencer, but the true meaning behind and the true strength behind being a a real influencer is that you can say, I just bought this, or I just use this product. I. And it's flying off the shelves, right? That's it. It's the best example is Oprah. You know, Oprah is an influencer at her core. So if Oprah set commands a certain amount of money to do a deal with a brand, they're gonna pay her what she's commanding because they know beyond a shadow of a doubt, she's proven herself that she has influence, right? So you may have someone that is on Instagram, let's say Instagram, because that's where a lot of us play. You may have someone on Instagram that has a hundred thousand followers, but if they are not in the business of talking to their. A certain way, or if they don't have anything to sell, if they don't have anything to move units with, if they're not collaborating with anybody or doing anything, all they're doing is being cute and taking pictures, then it is monopoly money. Right? Because it won't translate. Especially if, let's say this, You've been having a presence on an Instagram account for a year plus two years plus, you have a huge following, but you've never tried to sell them anything. You've never talked to them about buying something, doing something, and, and had any type of call to action. The moment you start trying. It might feel inorganic. You have to still manage to be authentic with it. It might feel pushy. It might feel gross, actually. So then at that point, it is monopoly money because now you can't sell anything. You can't move any units. You have numbers, but you don't have influence. First of all, can I just say like, I hate when people call themselves influencers. It annoys me like I just feel like. I shouldn't call myself an influencer, even though I know that's the term and that's what we do. But I just feel naturally, someone else should call me an influencer. Do Yeah. It's sort of like expert, like, yeah. Someone else should be tooting your horn, calling you an expert, introducing you as an expert, introducing you as an influencer. Yeah. And you, you just do what you do. Yeah. I'm a content creator. Yeah, like that's it. So let's hop into some of these social media comments. We have comments both from Instagram and Facebook, and the first comment comes from Instagram. The first comment says, disagree. There are so many opportunities that can be monetized by having a large following and being an influencer. But she did put influencer in quotes. See, I think she would change her answer to agree if she'd heard my. Lead into it because Absolutely. I agree. If you are a, I'm using my air quotes influencer, and that's the way your bank account and your, Instagram and everything is set up, then cool. Yeah, I would agree as well. As long as your audience is cultivated, then, you know, obviously, you know, having a million followers, if I had a million followers, the way that I have my, the, the 22,000 that I have now on Instagram, if I had a million of those same type of follow. Of course, like, that'd be amazing, right? But unfortunately, what happens sometimes is going back to some of these articles that I've read before sometimes when people who have a lot of followers, sometimes people follow because you have a lot of followers and they're like, oh, you know, what's going on? Why are people following this person? So you get a lot of that and a lot of people who may not be totally into the topic that it is that you talk. But if you have a specific niche, like say, like makeup or fashion or something like that, nine times outta 10, your audience is into that, right? But if you're someone who say, you know, I like to follow a lot of the online comedians that make like the really funny videos and things like that, those people I love to watch because I love their content. But sometimes they may put out ads that don't necessarily relate to me because, you know, everybody can relate to laughing or you know, jokes and things like that. But not everyone's gonna relate to, let's say, you know, a men's shaving bomb or women's tampon or a new sports car, right? So you really have to have your audience cultivated. But that's a really interesting point that you bring up. Like the flip side of that, the audience, because I'll never forget, like, you know, I was in New York one time and I was sitting on the subway. I was sitting next to this girl who I had never really watched someone scroll through their Instagram before and like studied it. And this girl seemed to have a lot of photos. She was getting caught up on whatever, but she was just scrolling, just scrolling, scrolling. Mm-hmm. Never stopped, never like, Never really even paused. She was just like scrolling. And I was like, is she even like really looking at the photo or taking in? So I'm assuming she probably follows a lot of people. Mm-hmm. And her engagements probably low, like her interaction with these accounts was probably low. She was just following just the look, you know? That's the whole other. Flip side of the coin, you know, because it's not always like, I'm not just here to say like, it's like the influencer's fault or whatever, but that's the flip side of the coin. Sometimes you do get these audiences, for whatever reason, that are just there to look, and that's super unfortunate. Right, right. And and it's funny that you should say that about the way people scroll because I noticed that from, I have a niece and nephew who were in their early twenties and I watched them go through Instagram and I'm like, hold up, you just broke. That's one of my pictures. You ain't double checked. Go back. Right. But they people, some people really do look at Instagram differently, like the, you know, the girl that you mentioned, my niece, and. They're like breathing through their timeline and their feed. Whereas me, I follow people I really wanna follow. I can't follow a lot of people because. You know, there's just certain things that I need to see in my feed and certain things I do not need to see in my feed. Mm-hmm. So when I actually go through my feed, it's people that I might know in person in real life. Yeah. But there're people whose content I really loved. I'm like going through reading the caption. Yeah. Does this happen? Leaving comment like, I'm all in. I have had a mentee and altercation with a friend. Okay. Who realized that I wasn't following them. Instagram, but specifically for Instagram, I try and keep it work related. So if you posting the same photo that I already see on your Facebook page where I already follow you friend, like I'm not gonna follow you on Instagram. Sorry. So I don't have a lot of people for that specific reason. Like I like to look at my feed and be inspired and like you, I like sweat through every photo and I click on a link and I'm all up in the captions and it takes me to the next page that maybe I find inspiring and I start following. So if it's just the baby photo, like I saw it on Facebook, like we. You know, but that's the difference also between people that are using Instagram and social media for business and people that are using it for pleasure. Sure. There's a huge divide in that space. And I think that's the other thing that sometimes people don't account for. Just because someone is on social media does not mean that they're looking to buy from you or to entertain whatever it is that you may be selling. Whether it be you're selling yourself, you're selling a third. Product, whatever it is. Instagram and its origin was not started as a marketing tool, right? It became a marketing tool because marketers saw the value and they saw where they could tap into people that had this perceived influence because they gained all of this, these eyeballs, in some of them a very short amount of time, but in its origin, it was a photo sharing site for real. One thing I will say about Instagram that I do admire. And it could also be the fact that I engage a lot with the content that comes through my feed. I don't know how this might work for the people like my niece and nephew and the girl that was sitting next to Kristen on the train, the scrollers, how that might work out to them. But since I engage with my content, So much on Instagram since they started putting the ads. Some of them I've been like, okay, why is this in my feed? But a lot of those ads that come up in my Instagram feed are things that I've either, you know how now you could save on Instagram. There've been a lot of ads where I've, I've saw something and I was like, oh my God, I need to save that for inspiration for later. Or something I've actually bought because of the ads that are on Instagram. So I'd have to say that the way they're able to tap into the way that the type of accounts that you engage with and the type of content you look at and try to pair it with, a product. I think that's amazing too, it's because Instagram is owned by Facebook, and Facebook actually hired and has these marketing companies that they work with to basically target to help the, to help the Facebook ads community better, target their ads. So there's a whole, but you wanna know something. The funny thing is, and I don't use my personal Facebook as much as I do. I'm usually on my style and Beauty doctor Facebook page more than I am on my. Danielle Gray Facebook page. But anytime I've actually gone through Facebook, my Facebook ads are just like a mishmash of like, look, maybe this will work, maybe it won't. I've seen, so like, I feel like whatever company that that Facebook has used to for their Instagram ads doing a much better job than as I see on my Facebook page. And again, it could come back down to the fact that I don't interact much on my personal Facebook. Why my ads just seem to be like all over the place. Right. So they're probably able to gather more information from you. Mm-hmm. In terms of you as a user. From Instagram versus Facebook. So I wanna, I wanna read a comment from I'm gonna say her name, my candy shop, because she is out here. Oh, yeah. She's a blogger. She's, she's in this space. So I don't think that she would mine us reading her comment because, hey, she's public. So my candy shop said, being popular with a large following does not always equate to being engaged with your audience, which is what a lot of companies are looking for. A hundred thousand followers, but only 300 likes. And two comment. Hella popular with zero influence. So she definitely, or they bought, they following or, or some alternative. Alternative facts, right? Alternative followers. That's another thing. That's another, and that's another reality. When we are talking about the monopoly money, a lot of people. Aren't owning the fact that even some people that have huge followings now, they're not owning the fact that at some point they bought a portion of their following and then it was able to grow. Because just like you said, Danielle, sometimes people just follow because they see a lot of other people following, so they, lot of other people following. Exactly. So their audience is not true through and through. Mm-hmm. A portion of it is purchased and a portion of it. Organic, let's say. But then, but then that goes back to our point on cultivating your audience and like having them prepared to do the type of business you wanna do. If you've bought a bunch of followers who then only got you more followers because they're following you, cuz people are looking, nobody's really participating in the right, in the finance of the business. So what good was that? Right? Like I said, I will take 10 strong homies that we can develop a amazing relationship and have a good Instagram vibe going. Been a whole bunch of fuga. Mm-hmm. Right. And you know what to to, to that point. And, and this is something that, cuz I, I feel that there's a shift in blogging that happened. Well, there are many shifts in blogging. I've had mine blog for 10 years this year makes 10 years. And there've been a lot of Thank you. There've been a lot of shifts and, you know, blogging, I, I started when blogging was something where people were so excited about the fact. There was people who looked like you and who talked like you and who shopped at the same places as you were online talking about the things that you liked. So there wasn't, you know, this need for like, these highly styled photos and, and things like that. Then, you know, next wave was, you know, the highly styled photos . And it was kind of mirroring more of what the magazine industry was doing. And , I think it progressively ticked up where it was like perfection was the trend in the name of the game. Mm-hmm. And social media where it was kind of like, I wound up following an unfollowing. A lot of bloggers who, I didn't really relate to them, but I loved their imagery. And, you know, as somebody who, is a fashion lover and somebody who just was a visual person. You ain't gotta look nothing like me or have anything that I can even afford if I like doing the image books, like, you know, I might be interested in, in following you, just with a visual. But yeah. And I think that people started to get really tired of vets and I would see a lot of posts from a lot of my fellow bloggers where they were kind of just like over the perfection and. Then Snapchat came out and Instagram stories and people realized that, you know, you could, show all kind of facets of your brand from the, very polished Instagram to the off, off, off duty of Snapchat. And for me, I kind of felt like, like I wanted a happy medium. I've always wanted my personality and for me to shine through and my post because, everybody's a beauty blogger out there. And what gonna differentiate me from anyone else who is a beauty blogger is that I'm mean, that's my power. You know what I mean? So I think. Within the last couple of months as I was trying to plan out, how I wanna go with my content for 2017 and where I wanna go with my branding, I kind of went towards a back to basics approach, like, mm-hmm Okay, why did I start blogging and you know, this is why I wanted to do it. This is what I enjoyed doing and I wanna be able to teach people beauty but then I also, and this also comes from getting older, cuz once you hit 30, you hit a high level of I don't give a, about what people think about me. So there's a lot of that in. And so, you know, just to back back to Kristen's point, she'd rather have 10 solid homies. I'm so the same way. Like I wanna create content that I love, that I know the people who. Show out, like people who come to style and beauty doctor events, people who leave comments, people who double tap things that those people love and that's who I'm catering to as opposed to trying everything to try to please right everyone, when that's just impossible. That's tough. And actually for me, I, I, I guess I kind of came into the same realization, but for me it was actually a follower that said something just cuz I was at a point last year where I just needed to take a little bit of time. So I let my audience know like, Hey guys, I'm like going away for a minute. Not like going away, going away. I was still in my house, but like I needed to take care of some. Organizing and personal things in my life. And one girl left this comment, she was like, well, you know, we just here, we're here for quality, not necessarily quantity, so we'll be here when you get back. Mm-hmm. And I wanted to cry and then like, Side eye a little bit. Cause I was like, wait, am I not putting, am I just, when I do quality or quantity, are you guys not into it? Like, but it made me sort of like, I was thankful, but then I questioned the whole, like how I was producing this content, you know? And like you said, I just wanna be me and real and authentic and when I have something dope to say or something fab to share like I do. And when I don't, like my audience knows I'm probably sitting on my couch in like a cast hand and like we, that's just how we operate, you know? It's a cocktail, honey, all your fabulous glory. Right. To be fair, I'm still, I'm sitting right now in my pajamas with a glass of wine. Okay. So they know what's up. Like it's what, it's that's true. But, but the, I think the authenticity in bringing that back. Will serve people a lot better than trying to be like everyone else that you see out there doing everything else that everyone else is doing. Mm-hmm. Cause I think people's attention spans are becoming short-lived for the perfection, for the fakery, for the just. A lot of it. Okay. We, we got a lot going on right now in America. We need truth. No alternative anything, so, yeah. Right. Exactly. I think that's just where probably we have just switched our opinions to Yes real, give real, yeah. Touching back on the facade of things and the lack of depth in how people, are creating these images online that you can't necessarily connect with all the time. One of our Facebook comments actually said in response, Kristen's comment, she said yes and no. That's her feeling whether she agrees or not, yes and no. Mm-hmm. So she mm-hmm. She's in, in the middle. She says yes in that sometimes the online version is such a fabricated version of the person that they end up being different people. I have literally met some friends. She uses her quotes, oh, some friends in person and thought they ought to have been slogged. Oh. Or awarded for their staging photoshopping slash filtering games. Oh. Right. She ain't coming to play. No. She says, I would not have recognized them if I was being paid to do so. Whoa, whoa. Hey, wow. And then she said, no, she doesn't agree in the fact that followers equal revenue. Many instances. So that's pretty real. So she's saying that she can see both sides of the coin because she can see where people are so fake and not genuine enough that if I can't even recognize you in real life, I know that you can't potentially be doing anything in real life of substance that's equating to what she's saying. Did she name, name, let me stop. I'm just kidding. I mean, I think that's, wow, that's unfortunate. Have you ladies ever come across or met up with anyone in real life that you had been online friends with, their social media friends with and they didn't match up to their profile? No, I've never been Catfish that I can really think of off the top of my head. Like, like, like that. I mean, but I will say that like, I've met people that you perceive life to be a certain way just based off of what they post on the gram. And then, you know, you meet them and you develop more of a. Closer real life relationship. And then you start sort of peeling back on the layers to the onion and you realize, oh, okay, your life is actually nothing like that. But they still look like the person they did in real life. I've never met anyone that looks well. I've seen people that might look a little different. But see, I'm in the makeup world, so sometimes you know what makeup looks like online can look, you know, totally different in person. Nothing where I was like gagging. I don't know, it's not like a psychic thing. And it's not like a, I can read somebody's personality off of what they post online, but sometimes there's certain people you can like Monica Style Muse, like, she seems so cool online. So like, anytime I, like she pulls up in my speed, I'm like smiling because she's just such a dear and it's such a joy to look. And then I meet her in person. It's the exact same thing, like, but with her it was like, I don't know, I was kind of expecting her to be great in person. Cause like, I kind of felt like I kind of felt her online. in my former life I was a financial salesperson and I had to do all kinds of like, Things where it's kind of like you wanna marry your personality to the client. So I I, I've come across many situations where I've had to like, kind of adjust my personality to match that with the person that I'm, I'm speaking to, because I'm trying to sell them something. And that kind of taught me to kind of like deal with different people. So there's been people who I've seen like on YouTube and. Easily talking to the camera and they're like full of life. And then in person, they're, shy, they're more introverted. And I didn't understand that until I started to try to talk to my camera myself. Yeah. And I couldn't, and I couldn't do it because I was like, Yeah, I can't talk to, I can, obviously, I can talk to the camera, I've done TV stuff, but it's hard for me to be able to connect with just the camera because I look for nonverbal clues. I look for changes in a person's tone. I look for body language, you know, things like that when I'm speaking to someone. So it helps me to like, like if I, like when I first met Kristen, I think that we were both like, ah, like, like, like right off the bat. Cause we both have. Really like hype personalities, but like, you see how I'm getting like hyped now talking about question, but see like, like if somebody, somebody else was a little more, you know, reserved and introverted, I'm, you know, like how my voice is like going down right now and I might, you know, kind of, yeah. So it's like play sometimes. Yeah. You play off of them. So I can kind of see how. People can be different online because I kind of see like the, and, and not that I'm saying that there's anything wrong with it. I just feel like sometimes people who may not be able to express themselves in person or in in real life as they say. I can see how they can take whatever personas like their own Sasha Fears and they picked that Sasha Fierce and put it on the. Yeah. I think personally as a content creator, I think the best compliment that someone can give me when they meet me in real life is, oh my gosh, you're exactly the same person as I watch on YouTube. Mm-hmm. You're exactly how I thought you would be. And that doesn't mean that like I'm. Always that same person. I'm always on. I'm always like exactly how I am. Like we're all humans. We all definitely have our different emotions. Like if you talk to some of my like best friends that have known me for years, they'd be like, she ain't always like that. Sometimes she's like moody and just wants to drink in the corner and not talk to anybody like we all. Okay, thank you. But like we all go through our like phases, but I think like if you are able to like connect with your core and just who you are as a person and that's able to translate on camera and someone meets you in real life and, and feels that energy and makes that comment, that to me is like a million. Instagram followers. Okay. That's what that feels like to me. Yeah. You know, I love it. And to me, and to me, one of the best things, and like you said, that is the best compliment to get, that you're the same as you are online as you are in person. Because I think I, me, I like to be able to meet my. I hate to call people followers, but that's what they're called. But I, I love to be able to meet my friend, the people that have that, have read my blog for years, watch me on YouTube and you know, follow me on Instagram and things like that. I like to meet those people and it goes back to, cuz it helps me with creating content because it's like you put a face. To, you know, some of the comments that, that are left and sometimes, you know, people don't leave comments and things like that, so it's kind of hard to gauge. But then you, you, when you meet somebody in person and you know, you see what their personality is like and you see what draws them to you. To me, that's like the best thing ever. Like if I could, I would just have like an. Every weekend with like five to 10 people that read my blog or watch me on YouTube and just kind of like, just chit-chatting and things like that. Because again, it goes back to why you started your blog. It goes back to knowing your audience. It goes back to, you know, being able to get that insight as to, you know, what you're doing with content and, and the things that you post. It's really good to hear different people's opinions, especially when it comes to social media, because none. Knew that we'd be living in this world right now where social media plays such a big role in our day-to-day lives, whether it be that you're a content creator or whether it be that. You are a consumer and because we know how quick this world can change when it comes to social media and what's hot and what's not. I think it's important to understand that when someone says social media popularity can be like having monopoly. the real underlying factor is not to try and cut anyone down. It's more so to say pay attention. Mm-hmm. If you are a person that's out there that's trying to make money off of your social media, if you're someone who's trying to monetize from your audience, you need to make sure that you're making the right moves so that it's working for. And it's not just the facade. It's not just that you're in a situation where you're pretending to be someone and pretending to have things that you don't really have. I just wanted to say that your audience is so smart, like I like these comments and you know, everybody's different perception of what I said. Totally. Yeah. Thank you ladies for joining us. You can keep up with Miss Chris on Instagram at Miss Chris, Instagram and Danielle on Instagram at Style and Beauty doc. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on iTunes if you have enjoyed listening to this podcast so far and check out Switch, pivot or quit.com for even more personal and professional development resources. Thanks for hanging with me and as always, keep killing it.

The January Book Chat book of the month is Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job by Jon Acuff. Acuff is a New York Times Bestselling author of five books including his most recent, Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck. Deciding to take the Book Chat from Facebook Live to the podcast, host, Ahyiana Angel shares her thoughts on Quitter as well as her Five Faves from the book. In the book Acuff explores the quitters mindset, shares viable tips on how to deal with your 9-5 and shares how he navigated the urge to quit for three years. Subscribe to the Switch, Pivot or Quit podcast now at iTunes to make sure you stay in the loop! What we're talking about: Falling in love with your job When to quit your day job to move on to your dream job Avoiding disappointment from family and significant other What does your current job owe you? Share the goodness of this podcast with an equally ambitious friend! #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #selfhelppodcast #blacksharktank #businesspitching #Quitter #JonAcuff #lathpodcast

This week on the Switch, Pivot or Quit podcast, host Ahyiana Angel has a straightforward chat about the realities of quitting your day job. Social media makes many feel like the answer to a fulfilling life complete with fabulous vacations, plump pockets and ultimate freedom is quitting that dreaded day job. Our guest Sable B., Founder of RealBrownGirls.com, has a suggestion, "Don't Be Stupid; Don't Quit Your Day Job." Subscribe to the Switch, Pivot or Quit podcast now on iTunes to make sure you stay in the loop! What we're talking about: The observations that prompted Sable B. to write the story Are people teaching their audience how to be an entrepreneur or a multilevel marketer The $1,000 course Sable took, which wasn't worth the money We tackle the topic of the 9 to 5 still being real life for many Share the goodness with a friend! "You know you want to be an entrepreneur, but you don't have the slightest inclination of what you want to do. Girl, you don't want to be an entrepreneur, you want a hobby!" - @realbrowngirls "Can my issues with my current job be resolved with another job, or a pay increase?" - @realbrowngirls "Do I actually want to work for myself or do I just want greater job flexibility?" - @realbrowngirls ""If you really want to be the pop-star of Wall Street, that's really not happening on your own." - @realbrowngirls #socialmedia #encouragement #socialmediamarketing #inspirationpodcast #businesspodcast #personalgrowth #selfdevelopment #selfhelppodcast #smallbusiness #digitalcareers #lathpodcast TRANSCRIPT: Hey girl. Hey, and thanks for dropping into the Switch, pivot. Quit podcast candid convo for the girl needing a lifestyle plot twist when she's deciding if it's time to switch, pivot, or quit. I'm Ahyiana Angel, and I am your host, as well as Chief encourager and author. In order for you to hang out with us in this awesome space, all that's required for you to do is sit back, open your mind, and enjoy the show. With it being January top of the year, so many people are looking to mix things up in their lives personally and professionally. But when it comes to professionally, what seems to be number one on a lot of people's lists is quitting. A lot of people are talking about quitting. A lot of people are making that a part. Their, um, goals for 2017. So I actually came across a article by a friend of mine, friend to the show by the name of Sabel B, and the article is called Don't be Stupid, don't Quit Your Day Job. So of course I had to chat with her about this. Now if you don't know and not are not familiar with Sable, she is the creator and founder of Real Brown Girls, which was started in February of 2014. Sable is a career strategist and facilitator helping women strategically advance in their respective areas of expertise. She is an in-demand thought leader, creating a new narrative among professional women of color, and her mission is to see women living as opposed to simply surviving. So let's go ahead and hop into our conversation with Sable. Be and welcome her to the show. Hey, fable. Hey, hey. All right, so don't be stupid. Don't quit your day job. You know, it's not so harsh when you read it out loud. You know what? But it's not, it's real. And that's why I wanted us to chat about it because so many people think that quitting your job is the big answer to shaking up your life. What really prompted you to write this story? So I work with women who are looking for new jobs. That's my overall client. It's. Brown girl who is either currently employed but wants to move elsewhere or unemployed. That said, in working with them, I asked some short-term goals, long-term goals, a number of questions for the overwhelming majority of the clients I had last year. They all wanted to become entrepreneurs. And then when I asked them, cool, what do you wanna do? What do you wanna sell? Like, what you wanna do? Less than like 20% had an answer. And in my head I'm like, how you, how this works though? You know, you wanna be an entrepreneur, but you don't have the slightest inclination of what you wanna do. Girl, you don't wanna be an entrepreneur, you want a hobby. This is different, right? So there was that piece. And then the other piece was like, I just feel like I'm well immersed in the Instagram Black girl stratosphere, a k a, I'm on everybody's profile and digging deep 102 weeks, and I'm looking at your website, I'm looking at your profile, I'm looking at your Twitter, et cetera, et cetera. And I just felt like everyone came out the gate 2016 a. And online, Brandon. And then all of a sudden there are these popular publications interviewing some girls about how the income double and all this stuff. And I know some of these people, I'm like, wait, your husband take care of you? Wait, your father still pay for your gas? Wait, how you telling them to quit their job when your entrepreneurial endeavors aren't paying for your lifestyle? And that's. That's key right there. And you said, and you said in the story, let's just recap this for our listeners, is you said it's time to end the fantasies and get realistic time to assess our individual situations and needs. Owen, before I forget, we need to be honest with ourselves about our work ethic and career goals. Entrepreneurship is not for thin skin, fly by night people. If the grinds not in you, don't quit. Stay. There's nothing wrong with working for someone else. Everyone cannot be the ceo, and even they report to someone. And there's this idea that just because you read a feature on someone doesn't mean she told you the whole story, right? You don't know the whole truth. Would you say that social media has falsely glamorized entrepreneurship, girl glamorized? They have turned it into a competition of like who's going. Earned the Oscar for prettiest post and it's just like, but what went into that post? Did you create your own post? Do you have a team? What's really happening behind the scenes? Right. No one sees that. We see these like 32nd, I guess. Did you like a minute clip now, like we see these minute clips, these 32nd, um, IG story clips, and we are all putting together like this essay based on this person that we've never met in. We need to be mindful of that as people watching, because you know, we've heard it time and time again, but I don't know when we'll really start to internalize it and believe it that social media is just a snippet of people's lives. It's not always the reality. It's not always the full picture. So that's just the real that I think that people sometimes, either they don't share or maybe we don't wanna. I think people don't share because you just don't. It puts you in a very vulnerable space, and it's like, how much of your business do you want someone to know too? I think people don't wanna hear that, or they wanna hear it after the fact, so it's like, oh, I was depressed. Not like I am depressed. Because I think that it, it allows for hope, but. Can be wrapped in realism, right? And so a few things that you say to consider when you're asking yourself should you quit is number one, we'll go through, there's nine of them, and we'll go through them just so that everyone can have an idea of where you're coming from with this information. And number one is, do I have the savings and capital to financially cushion and position myself and my business just in case I don't? Auntie Oprah overnight. That's real. Number two, can my issues with my current job be resolved with another job or a pay increase? I thought that one was so clutch, because a lot of times it's not. The job, it's you, you might outgrow the job, you might be feeling some type of way about, uh, the management, whatever. But in any case, you have to assess what your exact situation is. So that that's key. Because some people stay at places too long and it's like no one said you had to stay there. Yeah. But you can leave. Yeah. So number three is do I actually want to work for myself or do I just want greater job Flex. That's a great question to ask yourself, and that goes back to ultimately, what type of career do you want? What do you want your career to look like? What do you want your lifestyle to look like? Because a lot of us, our jobs and our careers take up so much of our time that we want this freedom outside of it, and that's where the entrepreneurship. Ain't going to give that to you right away. Yeah, but that's where the lure from, social media something. Yeah. Cause you see people living these globe trotting lifestyles in their entrepreneurs. Oh my God, they all, all these stamps on these passports. I'm What? Can you adopt me? Because the way my budget's set up, I gotta plan far in advance to do all I had in one. Yeah, and then there's things that you're not told about how some of these trips are achieved. You know, uh, it might be financed through a sponsorship, it might be financed by Daddy. For all you know, you don't know. If you don't know this person personally, then it's really not your business to know either. So, Okay. Number four is, can my business idea replace my current salary with net profits? Ching? I had to say net because everyone wants to talk about growth. Like for instance, I got all these student loans, right? So when you go to putting your affirmation to figure out how much you have to pay, they don't ask you what you make after taxes. They ask you what you make Before it's like, bro, but you just took like 10. I'm a salary of 15, whatever, you know, tax bracket default. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And for me, like that's same with the business. Like, all right, so your goal might be to make a hundred K, first year out the gate power to you do what you gotta do, boo. But after your expenses and your business taxes, how much did you actually take home people? And don't wanna do the math. Yeah. And you need to figure out what your lifestyle consists of. And usually when you hear entrepreneurs talk about their startup days or their days bootstrapping, They are living bare minimum scraping by, and it, it is either out of necessity because they don't have the money or if it's out of circumstance because they know that they're trying to save as much, uh, as they can to put. Toward the business or invest in the business. Mm-hmm. Exactly. Like how many people you here for? Like the first three years, five years, they didn't take a salary. Yeah. So I always wanna go. Well, who fed you then? Yeah. If you didn't take anything out of the company profits. After all paperwork and bills were said and done, who fed you? How did you eat, sir? Ma'am, tell me. I really wanna know. Peanut butter and jelly oodles and noodles. What was it? What was it? What was your diet? Right? Tell me. Right. So the next one is, am I an innovator or an entrepreneur? Very key as well. Next up, do I have the stamina to run a business long-term, not just short-term, but long-term? Because right now it looks fancy and good, but long-term, will you still want to work this hard for your business? That's a great question. Next up, am I willing to work long hours and weekends? Next up, what is the number one reason I want to work for? And that is the last question that you tell people to consider before just quitting their day job. And that is a key question. You have to know your why. Because if it's superficial, you might as well not start. Mm-hmm. And for most people that have made it, everyone tells you the motivation wasn't necessarily money. We all want to see people when we want to, uh, especially our women. We wanna encourage each other. We wanna say go, you can do it. But we also wanna be realistic about things too. Cause none of us wanna set ourselves. For failure. We wanna set ourselves up in a way that we can thrive and be successful and potentially bring other people on board. And that's a part of the reason why I thought that this discussion was so crucial. Because as we go into a new year, everybody's thinking what they wanna do different in the new year, how they're going to be their best in 2017. And for some people being their best, they're thinking that means I'm gonna be an entre. I'm gonna get out there, I'm gonna hustle, I'm gonna step out on faith, I'm gonna let it all go, and I'm going to be the best entrepreneur that I can possibly be. And sometimes it takes people like us to say, Hey. Let's be realistic though. You can do that. That's, that's great. But what's your idea? What's your ambition? What's your why? What's the plan? Yeah. What's your plan? How many books have you read about it? Who's your market? Who's, who's gonna buy this stuff from you? Who are you talking to? Who's listening? Are people already you wanna do this so you die? Like Yeah. What you're doing. Yeah. Yeah. These are things that we need to know. You got up another, um, good point. At the top of the article that pretty much talked about, uh, marketers being all up in your inbox, which we know that they do. What I'm curious to know your thoughts on how many of these people do you think are setting people up for a true entrepreneurial career? Or more like a multi-level marketing career. I'll put it to you this way. The first course you buy on Instagram or from someone on Instagram that is at a relatively expensive price, 200 plus course that's gonna teach you how to brand that's on the person, whatever you're supposed to learn. Cool. But by the time we bought the second or third course, so you didn't have this 18th consult. And you're not where you thought you would be. We can't no longer blame them. They're hustling you and you're allowing it. Mm-hmm. So it's like the first, what? What is it? Back in the day? Or like the first time, blame them. Second time, about a third time, you're the full. And it's not to say you have to, you're buying three courses and two courses or whatever, but if you thought you were going to learn how to be an entrepreneur from a self-titled expert, d i y. You were already doomed, foolish from the beginning. Mm-hmm. Because that's not how any of this works. Mm-hmm. It takes a lot more groundwork and study and interest in digging in than just taking a e-course basically. And then my thing is like with the marketing and like the beginning, the beginning of the article, I talked about the marketing aspect of it. That's because I grew up in a marketing household, like that's what my mother has done for 40 years now, and she's been really good at it. Some huge campaigns that people have seen. She was the spearhead of it, so she know. I've heard that language growing up, so I know how they're targeting people, but at what point do you decide like, I'm going to be a knowledgeable customer, like I don't have to buy it just because they're talking to me like, what can I go to Burns and Noble or Amazon to the book section and buy on my own? But like, I don't know a hundred percent. Like you could go buy a 1999 book and learn far more than you are going to learn from this DIY course from a person who just graduated three years ago and hasn't really done what she's teaching you how to do. How does that make sense? Right. I always say, look, you know, I don't claim to be an expert, but I have experience and there's just certain things I know, right? I've also worked in the corporate world. I've had my fair share of jobs before I took on this independent freelance lifestyle, if you will, and. I know that there are certain core skills that you have to have and that can be developed even if you have this natural talent. There's certain skills that can be developed, but you still have to, you still have to nurture. Yes, like there, there are definitely some people out there with natural talent and then there's some people out there with the natural talent to hustle you. There it is. And those are the people I want you to avoid, like I said at the end of the article, so you don't get duped. Like recognize who you should be learning from. And shadowing and trying to mirror what they do, but make it authentic to you and then who you should be. Like, girl, bye. You don't know what you're talking about. Mm-hmm. Or pull out your resume, what have you done? Yeah. If a lot of people who were selling courses and offering coaching and stuff had to produce their resume to say, Yes, you are qualified. No, you're not qualified because most of us, before you go to any legitimate job interview, you have to supply them with your resume. So before you take my thousand dollars, you should have to supply me with your resume. What have you done? Let me know. What have you secured and what can, what have you secured not only for yourself, but also for other people? Because there's all these different ways in shapes and forms that this can come about. Part of the reason we're talking about it, and I love that we are talking about, it's because I wanna make people aware, I want people to be smarter about the decisions that they're making when it comes to lifestyle their career. Exactly. Even though some of them tell you that they may have a money back plan, you don't wanna take the chance that they. If they do, they say they do, but they don't. Who are you willing to run down and chase down for your money? You don't wanna have to call up Judge Judy and get on TV to try to get your coins back. You don't? Oh no. That's tacky. We're not doing that. We're not exactly. So you just wanna be smart with that. Exactly. You wanna be smart before you even get to that place. So a part of being smart is doing your research on this person, finding out where do they come from, what qualifies them to be who they are. And if you can't find enough information online, but you're still extremely interested, email them. Ask them if you are about to spend what is a significant amount of money to you, or even if it's not that significant, it's just your money. If you're about to spend money with someone, you should feel perfectly comfortable saying, Hey, just wanted to reach out. I'm thinking about taking your course, and I love it. If you can send me a copy of your most recent resume. And guys, um, testimonials don't count, right? No. So I use testimonials to attract business, right? But at the end of the day, a testimonial is a test. People. I could write my own testimonials if I wanted to. I don't. Mm-hmm. But I could. Okay, so especially there's no picture attached to it. You don't even know if that testimony is real or not. So when you're asking for a resume and they send you a link to the testimonial page, reply and then go, oh no, there was some misunderstanding here. I meant your resume like a word, your professional resume. Your professional resume, not testimonials. It's crossing your Ts, it's dotting your I. Because we should make that, I feel like that would go viral. Like your coins matter or my coins matter. Um, but I'm not gonna spearhead that. But if you did it, I I start using the hashtag your coins. You're going, despite the fact that your, your coins. And your dreams matter. You have to be willing to take responsibility to do the research, like there's no shortcut. And your time matters because if you pay them your money and you find out that it was all fuga and off or not, then you wasted your money and you wasted your time speaking about a Fugazi. So I signed up for one of these courses, um, just because I had watched enough little webinars with the option in the sales funnel that I mentioned, um, in the article. So I just wanted to see what this particular person's course was about. Phar real Pharrell on the inside and there was like a ten three day, it was a real. Get your money back type thing. So I did it. I had, I even put in my calendar like email, cancel this. Um, I looked in there, it was stuff you could have Googled on your own if you weren't being lazy. And I'm calling people lazy because I'm tired of people thinking that there's shortcuts to this. Especially if the entrepreneurial thing is what you wanna do, then you need to accept and like take a vow before God, Allah, Buddha, whoever it is that you pray to, if you pray at all. Cause there are no shortcuts. Because everything that, and this was a thousand dollars course. Mm-hmm. There was nothing in there that you could not have found from a 20 to 30 minute Google search. And that's literally 20 or 30 minutes because you're reading a couple different, um, links. To just to get the overall gist of what's happening here. Right? Like the first article, will it suffice? But, you know, you gotta look at like at least five or six and, and skim through. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You're, you're, you're diligently researching, you're doing your research, but you know, when you decide, first thing is you should know that nothing worth. Comes easy or for free. We all should know that by now. Most things require hard work. Most of the people that we see with success or that we see in some position that is potentially enviable, it requires some hard work to get there. And we're not talking about the people who things we're just given to them. We don't count them. We're talking about the people that we know, that they were not born into this, they had to work for this you. That it took some long days, some late night, some researching, and I was actually having a conversation with someone yesterday about this, and they were talking about starting their own business. And I said, look, you have to know your, your business better than anybody else, and you have to be willing. To know everything that you need to know going in before you even start investing money. So for those who are still working and still have the luxury of a, um, a paycheck coming in once a week or every two weeks, use that time to your advantage. That's when you do your research, that's when you figure things out. That's when you plan. And even if it's not specifically on their dime, like you're sitting at the desk, like, I really hope that you're sitting at your desk right now listening to us chat on this podcast. But even if that's not when you're listening to it, if you're listening at home while you are working on your own, but you know you're getting up tomorrow and still going to your job to collect a check, that's great because you have that cushion. You're giving yourself an opportu. To make a way and make a plan and potentially make some mistakes, because that's also the reality that a lot of people don't really, um, put attention on and shine a light on, because most people don't wanna dwell on their mistakes. But mistakes happen. Everybody messes up. Most people go through a couple different businesses before they finally get to the idea or the thing that really works. Part of the reason that, you know, this conversation is crucial for everyone to have, because right now it's very trendy to be an entrepreneur. It's the it thing. It's almost like if you have a nine to five, you know, people are turning their nose up, but no, you're, you're secure. Now, let's be clear though, having a side hustle, happy to apply that all day long because you are now working in the best of both worlds and you're laying a foundation for yourself. You're testing the waters out and you're trying to see. Is this something that I really wanna do? Does this have longevity? That's the smartest way to. You mentioned something that made me think of another thought. So with the whole trendy thing, folks like to act like if you have a nine to five, your job's not secure. Right? And like that's one of the triggering language that they use to market these entrepreneurial, um, webinars and courses and things of that nature is like if you're an entrepreneur, your income is secured. No, it's not because it may come in ways. Especially depending on your business model, you may get paid on your field. Yeah. Industry. Yeah. The hot seasons and cold seasons. Yeah. So we're not, we're not saying all of this to scare people. We're saying all of this to give you the real, if you have No, I'm. No, let's, I'm not trying to scare you. Ahyiana is not trying to scare you, okay? Because I want people to live out their dreams. I want them to explore. I want them to see what's out there. But I know that a lot of times when you have these ideas about, Being an entrepreneur or even being a side hustler and kind of doing your own thing or striking out on your own and trying things. Sometimes people that are around you, they don't understand and you can't talk to them about it, and they just don't quite get it. What you're saying, I'm, I'm here to tell you that we get it, Sable and I get it. We've been there, we understand it. We're in the mix of it all. So that's why we're speaking to you almost like from a big sister perspective, because we don't want you to fall into this trap of get like, And then you end up finding yourself. Got, okay, got end like Game of throne. Ok. Yes. Nobody is safe, right? We don't want, we don't want that to happen to you. And I wanted to touch on the fact that you do help women with career coaching. Say, well, when you, you help preparing them for, you know, advancing in job opportunities and stuff. So that, and your, your business is going well, so I want. Say to that, the nine to five life is still probably real for many, right? It's still as many people. It's real. It's real for most, yeah. As many people try to downplay it, like, you know, everybody's working for themselves. That's real for a lot of people. Put it this way, fortune 500 companies where if you make it to the top, you are, you're swimming in dough, like you can just go to bed on a bed of cash and they still don't have that many brown faces. So it's. There's nothing wrong with working for yourself, but there's still all these feelings that the glass even shattered to yet. Mm-hmm. And there's women who, if you wanna be like the pop star of Wall Street, not shade, but the way things are structured right now, that's really not happening on your own. That's, that's still happening in a traditional route. If you wanna be the lawyer lawyers, you can definitely start your own. But at some point, everyone who started their own firm was an associate at someone else's firm to learn the ropes before they stepped out on their own. Even doctors, you want your own. Cool, but they still had to study under somebody else while they're sitting for their boards and doing their residencies and et cetera. So it's like, even if the long term goal is entrepreneurship, they still are learning their skills under traditional umbrellas of business. And you know what we call that? Paying your dues. Well, I'm glad that we have, um, have had a chance to get really candid with people about. Quitting your day job really looks like and how to be prepared for it. Just some things to think about. So thank you so much for a writing this article, and B, for spending a little time with us. Appreciate you.

As your Chief Encourager I'm always looking for ways to give you more. I asked on Instagram if you wanted a podcast highlighting risk takers who have did a Switch, Pivot or Quit in their careers to ultimately live life on their terms. You didn't just say yes you wanted us to create such a podcast, you said yes you NEEDED us to create this podcast! So now, it's here, the introductory episode to the Switch, Pivot or Quit podcast. Hope you enjoy and share with a friend! #podcast #lifeaccordingtoherpodcast #businesspodcast #inspirationpodcast #encouragementpodcast #professionaldevelopment #selfhelppodcast #lathpodcast

Yoga is widely practiced, and a great way to get in touch with a special place in your mind and body. We knew that it was a must try when we received an invitation from Bre Scullark, model and certified Yoga instructor via @bre4yoga, to attend the Love First pop up yoga event on Saturday, Oct. 10 in New York. Bre and Mimi of @_LoveFirst partnered to bring an exclusive curated meditation/yoga experience to all that were interested in honoring their self. Tucked away on an unassuming block we found the La Maison D'Art studio which was transformed into a cozy yoga studio for about twenty women. Bre led the group in a calming meditation, then she taught us a few classic yoga positions. Everyone seemed to be very comfortable although it was clear that most of us were novice at the practice of yoga. Bre guided the group with a calming voice and a welcoming presence. After our relaxing meditation we were treated to an inspiring chat with Karen of Karen's Body Beautiful. She shared her entrepreneurial story with us in addition to addressing issues of self-esteem and feelings. Guests were also able to shop some of the great vendors at the event in addition to having the opportunity spend time chatting in the lovely garden behind the gallery. Sometimes you may have a bit of hesitation about walking into an unfamiliar situation and trying something new, but it's great to put yourself out there and experiment. We had a great time discussing self-care and wellness with all of the wonderful women that we met. Such a great event! The ladies have plans to take the pop up healing and yoga event on the road so look out for them in your city. Click images to visit vendor pages. #lifestyle #yoga #life #welness #womenshealth