On today's episode, we hear from Mr. Larry Whitaker Jr. Larry is the owner and founder of the Starve The Ego, Feed The Soul (STEFTS) lifestyle brand. He is also the co-founder of Mind Ya Bizz Popup Shops. He talks to us about how he used his refund check from his final year of college to create his first brand, STEFTS. The brand has opened many doors and opportunities for Larry while also being a call to action to his audience. He also details how his popup shops are exposing black businesses and such a vibe for growing brands and creators.

Larry gives a unique perspective on starting two value and purpose-based businesses.

Mentioned In Today's Episode:

• Larry's Instagram: @misterwhitaker
• STEFTS Instagram: @ste.fts
• Mind Ya Bizz Instagram: @mindyabizz757
• Order your STEFTS apparel
• Keep track of Mind Ya Bizz Popup Shops
• Tell Erika at Sugar and Grace you want her on the show

In today’s episode, we hear from Cinneah El-Amin from Fly.nanced. Cinneah is a powerhouse and is taking over the FIRE and Travel spaces simultaneously. Today, she talks to us about how she paid off over $23,000 worth of debt in just 1 year while investing and traveling the world. She also details how she has crafted a community of people around something she loves, travel. She gives tips and tricks when travel hacking and relocating to a new life abroad. This is a great episode for those of us who love personal finance and want to live a full life.

Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

• Cinneah’s Instagram: @fly.nanced
• Cinneah’s Course and Freebies

In today’s show we will hear from Mr. Nyles Finklee. Nyles has an amazing story about how he walked away from a six-figure salary to pursue his passion as an actor. He is now working his gift and perfecting his craft as an actor, radio personality, tv host, and business owner. He walks us through his journey and how he was almost at rock bottom but continued to pursue his passion. This is such a great and inspiring episode.

Mentioned in Today's Video:

Nyles Finklee on Instagram: @nyles.finklee

In today's episode, we hear from my high school classmate Dr. Christel Wekon-Kemeni, affectionately known as Dr. Dub. Dr. Dub talks about his journey to medical school and filling a void in the black medical community with his blog, Black Man M.D. Black Man M.D. covers every.single.week of Christel's medical school days and provides his unique perspective as a Black man. Now, he's helping to increase the number of minority physicians with his Desire to Inspire Scholarship.

This is a great episode for those who have a desire to pursue medicine and for those who have no desire to learn about medicine. It is an episode of pursuing passion and having the resolve to stick with it.

Mentioned in Today's Show:

• Black Man M.D. Blog
• Desire to Inspire Scholarship (You may donate here)
• Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
• Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS)
• Dr. Dub's Instagram: @therealdrdub

In today's episode, we hear from Black Vito who details his personal finance journey. Jerone was always a saver and had a "healthy infatuation with wealth accumulation"' from an early age. He saved up enough money to pay expenses while in college but quickly found a different path. After living in his car for a month, he started doing taxes, learning about investments, and driving for uber. He is saving and building wealth through the stock market while living on a lower salary. His story is inspiring to say the least and really lights a fire in you to go for your goals.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Jerone's Millennial Money Episode
• Graham Stephen's Millennial Money Reaction Episode
• Black Vito's Youtube Channel
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad
• The Millionaire Real Estate Investor
• Bill Ackman's Big Think
• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
• Fundamental Analysis for Dummies

In today's episode, we talk with my friend and realtor Kyle Sterling! Kyle was Keller Williams Capital Properties' 2019 Rookie of the Year. He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to buying and selling homes in expensive markets. This is a great episode for anyone who wants to start the home buying process for the first time or purchase their next property. Have your pen and paper out for this is one and save for later. You definitely want to reference this episode in the future.

Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Instagram: @_KyleSterling
• Connect with Kyle: https://calendly.com/kylesterlingkw

In today's episode, we hear from my friend Rephael Jones. Rephael talks about joining college with no real plan. After leaving school, he tried a plethora of jobs before finding one that really fit his personality. He continued to increase the cushion between what he earned and what he spent while also using all his extra income to buy stocks. He saw opportunities that he is continuing to profit from today. His investments and frugal lifestyle is allowing him to live his best life.

Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Army Reserve
• Rich Dad Poor Dad

In today's episode, we hear from my mentor Ms. LaTonia Bougouneau. Ms. Bougouneau has traveled the world living out her purpose. She takes us deep into her personal journey to finding her purpose while trusting God in the process. She explains the difference between purpose and passion and goes into how God can guide us in each of these areas. Another great and inspiring episode. Be sure to listen all the way through for those Top Ten Tips!

Mentioned on the Show:

Latoniabougouneau.com (Website coming soon)

LaTonia Bougouneau Consulting

IAmLaTonia on Clubhouse

In today's episode, we hear from Minister Barbara Galloway who is the author of the Amazon Best-Selling Book, Renewing Your Money Mind: How to Go From Common Cents to Kingdom Wealth. In this episode, she details how she started her personal finance journey after a wake-up moment happened in her life. While she was an accomplished accountant and received an MBA in Finance, she still had to learn how to manage her own finances. Minister Barbara breaks down every aspect of money, from saving, investing and planning for your child's college tuition to co-signing for loans. She offers a refreshing perspective on money using Christian principles.

Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Minister Galloway's Book
• Automatic Millionaire, By: David Bach
• CNBC
• Motley Fool
• Stock Advisor
• Bigger Pockets Podcast

In today’s episode, we interview my friend Ms. Maya Mitchell. Maya was introduced to personal finance at age 9 when her mom bought her her first stock. She talks about how her parents instilled the principles of hard work and saving which led her to buy her first home at just 24 years old and her second home at just 27 years old. Maya’s homeownership journey led her to start Ms. Young Homeowner which is a platform to highlight homeownership for young millennial women. 

Maya is killing it and dropping a wealth of knowledge on saving, investing, and buying your first home.

Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Ms. Young Homeowner on Youtube

Ms. Young Homeowner on Instagram

Minister Galloway’s Book: Renewing Your Money Mind: How to Go from Common Cents to Kingdom Wealth

In today's episode, we hear from Sarah Long. Sarah had a good introduction to money growing up but needed to fund her last year of undergrad and graduate school with student loans. She started out as a trained opera singer and quickly realized this was not a long-term career she enjoyed. She then entered a master's program which allowed her to break into IT Consultanting. During this time, she got married and combined income, and debt, with her husband. They also moved to a high cost of living area.

Sarah details how she managed her time in college while working a part-time job, how she budgeted for her wedding, and how she and her husband paid off $90,000 worth of debt. She also talks about how to decide if graduate school is necessary to switch careers and tips for saving and building credit.

This episode is jam-packed with great information!

Mentioned in this Episode:

Masters of Science in Business 11-month programs

PNC Bank

Ally Bank

Webull

Fidelity

Graham Stephan's YouTube Channel

In today's episode, we hear from my friend Dominick Littleton. Dom has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. He and a friend started their very own lawn mowing service as a kid. Now, he is the co-founder of the BTX Foundation which gives financial assistance and provides networking opportunities to Black engineering students. Dom also co-owns Yachtsy: a Black-owned Yacht rental service in Washington, DC. Dom accomplished all of this at just 27 years old and in the middle of a pandemic! He gives great advice on surrounding yourself with the right people and details lessons from his journey.

Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Dom on IG: @upperechelondom
• The BTX Foundation
• Yachtsy
• Yachtsy on Instagram: @Yachtsy.DC
• Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering (CMSE)
• Black Engineers Society (BES)
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)

Today we're speaking with my friend, Brandi Smith. Brandi has such an inspiring story and talks about switching colleges, giving up a D1 basketball scholarship, and getting into Pharmacy School. Once at Pharmacy School, she realized this was not the path she wanted to take. Brandi course-corrected and taught herself how to code in just THREE MONTHS! She made it her business to submit 10-15 job applications per day for developer and scrum master roles. After receiving a job in IT making SIX FIGURES, she set out to achieve yet another goal: paying down $45,000 in debt. She's still soaring and learning how to trade with FOREX, but FOREX is a scam, right? She details how to make money in FOREX and ways to protect yourself from scammers. This episode is LOADED with great information and will leave you feeling inspired to go after what you've been dreaming. Let's get it!

Mentioned In Today's Episode:

• Coding Phase
• Research #selftaughtdeveloper on social media
• Udemy
• Team Treehouse
• Glassdoor
• Indeed
• Dave Ramsey's Snowball Method
• Meetup
• IMarketsLive
• Wicks Don't Lie

In today's episode, we're hearing from my friend Allysia Samuels. Ally details her journey to making money on social media with social media marketing. She also talks about finding good, honest mentors in this space and building an organic following as a micro-influencer. She does all this while maintaining a 9-5. Ally gives some great advice on balance, setting attainable goals, and learning from mistakes.

Mentioned in today's episode:

• Ally's IG: @allysiasamuels
• Ally's clean beauty site

In this episode, Sabrina Reignique (from Sabrina Reignique on YouTube) gives her take on personal finance. She focuses on the importance of balance while on the journey to becoming debt-free and financially independent. Sabrina did not know the amount of student loan debt she had until her senior year of college. She, then, made it her business to find a high-paying job that would help her pay back her student loans. She created a plan to repay her loans but did not want to make herself miserable in the process. She loves to travel and drops major gems on how she is traveling the world with travel credit cards. She's living a life she loves while planning for the life she wants.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Chase Sapphire Travel Card
• Hopper
• Our Rich Journey
• IG: @sabrina.reignique

Today we're speaking with Ms. Jackie Alston. Jackie is an IT Consultant working out of Arlington, VA. Growing up in DC, her parents taught her the importance of homeownership. After graduating college, she knew she wanted to purchase a home in an "expensive market". Her plans didn't work out exactly how she wanted them, but her journey was worth it. Jackie is dropping major gems on how she was able to purchase her first home in Maryland while paying off $100,000.

Mentioned in today's episode:

• NACA
• Maryland Smart Buy Program
• HPAP
• @msjackiealston
• @chrisperryrealestate
• @msyounghomeowner

Welcome to Banks&Commentary from your host and creator, Candice Banks!