Archives for February 2017

Hello Guys!

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Mine was very productive – I’m setting so many wheels in motion that I can barely contain myself.  I’ll be making a major announcement next week so stay tuned!

I want to ask you something?  Are you doing what you are designed to do?

Have you really thought about that as you’re going along on this entrepreneurial journey?  I recently had a light bulb moment and it has made all the difference.  Before I get to that, let me back up for a bit.

As we’re nearing the end of February and the Passion to Profit series, I’ve been in the process of rediscovering my own passion for the law and providing affordable legal services.  You see, when I opened my law firm almost three years ago, I intended to use my rigorous corporate law training to provide affordable, high-quality legal services to individuals and small businesses.

After that, I made every single mistake possible.  Everything I talked about in the podcast episode:  Top Five Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Make – that was me.  Not getting things off to a good start was challenging and honestly, very discouraging.  I knew I was smart, provided a quality service, provided a service that people needed, and had a great network of referrals.  I even had my first two clients as soon as I launched my firm.  So I couldn’t understand why this wasn’t working.  I wanted to quit.

Eventually things started to turn around and I constantly had the “I wish I had known this” moments.  In addition to that, friends, family members, and clients began to turn to me for legal and entrepreneurial advice.  Because I had taken every wrong step, I knew exactly what to tell them NOT to do.  And that’s where the idea of the podcast came from.

But then, this past summer, a very close friend of mine suddenly passed away and it rocked me to my core.  Death has a way of taking off the blinders and forcing us to face those questions we all put on the back burner.  It forced me to see that I hated what I was doing.  I felt like I was offering my services piece-meal, I wasn’t really providing access.  Bringing in one client at a time and charging at least $1,000 for my most basic service wasn’t the way to provide accessible, affordable legal services.  I was doing all of this work and I wasn’t even fulfilling my mission.

Fast forward to January 2017, I’m back at American University, Washington College of Law (my alma mater) teaching Wills, Trusts, and Estates again.  I realized I love teaching!  And, I’m very good at it.  I asked my students why they chose my course and many of them took it because they had seen me speak or had taken my exam workshop two years ago! This wasn’t surprising to me, I know that I motivate people, I know I connect with people when I speak to them, I know I can keep people engaged.  And that’s when the lightbulb went off: I should be teaching small business owners!

Teaching (both orally and in written format) and speaking with small business owners is how I will be able to fulfill this mission.  In other words, for the first time in almost three years, I will be able to make my services scalable.  This way, I can serve hundreds of people and spend just about the same time it takes to serve one.

I was so relieved when I had that light bulb moment.  But it only came when I accepted my gift and agreed with God that I would do what He designed me to do.  It’s a liberating feeling, it makes you bold, it makes you go hard or go home.  It has re-ignited my passion for the law and for providing access to legal services.

So I ask you again, are you doing what you were designed to do?  Are you at the point where something you thought SHOULD have worked, isn’t working?  Are you doing the very best you can to make this work?  And if you’re not, is it because you don’t feel like doing your best?  I never did, I always knew what I needed to do to bring in more clients, but I was never motivated to do so.

My friend and sew sister, Anita Morris of Anita By Design always closes her posts with “when you live in your design, it is from there that you will shine.”

So very true, because I can already feel the glow.

Hey Shingle People!

So last week, the Institute for Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandies University released a myth-busting study, basically saying that White people are wealthy because they pass wealth down generation to generation.  BOOM!

Let me back up a bit.  I’m a Trusts and Estates attorney and adjunct professor of Wills, Trusts and Estates at American University Washington College of Law.  I have been passionate about estate planning since the first day I sat in a Wills, Trusts and Estate class.  It was like a Eureka! moment.  I was amazed to learn how taking some simple steps could set two or three generations up.  I figured, if there was anyway to grow wealth on the cheap, it was through effective Estate Planning.  

I made it my mission to tell everybody I know about it, educating friends and family members.  But, unfortunately, this topic usually falls on death ears (no pun intended, ha!) because let’s face it, no one wants to talk about death, how to divide your property when you’re gone, and who should raise your children.  For the large part, most Americans completely neglect this type of planning, but ESPECIALLY people of color.

After this study, I have a feeling many people will view estate planning differently, at least I hope so.  I myself am pretty excited that the IASP released this report.  It dispels a lot of myths about the financial behavior of Blacks and Latinos and how that contributes to their inability to build wealth.  Even still, this report goes further, it evaluates one by one each claim (i.e. single-parent household, college education, saving, etc.) and concludes, nope!  That’s not it.  In the end, the REAL reason Whites build more wealth than Blacks and Latinos is because they’ve had a head start that has allowed them to pass it down from one generation to another. 

But here’s the thing, we can do that too!  We can also pass down wealth from generation to generation:  it’s called estate planning and it involves more than writing a will.  There are some very simple steps each of us can take to protect our legacy and put the next generation in a better position.  We’ll get into that later, but first, below are the details from the article.

Overall.  The bottom line is that Whites have enjoyed a long history of public policies that have favored them and allowed them to accumulate more wealth over a long period of time.  For example, the GI Bill, which was introduced in 1944, assisted many World War II veterans attend college and buy home with guaranteed mortgages, largely excluded people of color.  Blacks and Latinos have been excluded from many wealth-building opportunities through discriminatory practices in housing, banking and education, to name a few.  As a result of this head start, Whites have more access to gifts and inheritances, which they use to supplement income, use as down payment for homes, and allows them take out less loans to pay for college.  It also gives them access to influential networks which helps them get jobs despite their education level, higher pay and greater mobility within the workplace.

Attending college does not close the racial wealth gap.  While college is associated with higher salaries and earning potential, and the study showed that those with some college earned more than their counterparts who only earned a high school diploma, it did not close the racial wealth gap.  According to the study, the median white adult who attended college has 7.2 times more wealth than the median Black adult who attended college and 3.9 times more wealth than the median Latino adult who attended college.  Furthermore, even just going to college is a feat for many Black and Latinos.  Because Whites generally come from wealthier families, Black students borrow at much higher rates and in higher amounts.  Which means that when Black students graduate, more of their income goes to repaying college loans.  On the other hand, with less student debt to pay off, the typical white college graduate has a head start on building their wealth – maybe saving for a down payment for a house – which in turns gives them an opportunity to build equity earlier.

Raising children in a two-parent household does not close the racial wealth gap.  The reason this study is right on time is because it dispels many of the incorrect beliefs of why people of color can’t get ahead.  How many times have we heard the statistic of the likelihood of a child raised by a single parent going to college?  Which by the way, is still so skewed – but that’s for a different post.  This study shows that NO, people of color aren’t poor because they lack two-parent homes. Again, when compared to their counterparts raising children in a single-parent home, the two-parent home fared better.  But when it came to comparing Black and Latino two-parent homes to White two-parent homes, we’re still behind.  But here’s the kicker, even White SINGLE parent homes have 2.2 times more wealth than the median black two-parent household and 1.9 times more wealth than the median Latino two-parent household.  So, family structure does not drive racial inequity.

Working full time does not close the racial wealth gap.  Here’s another stereotype:  people of color just don’t work hard enough.  Nope!  That’s not it either.  This study explains that the median white household that includes a full-time worker has 7.6 times more wealth than the median black household and 5.9 times more wealth than the median Latino household with a full-time worker.  Based on the figures from the study, Blacks and Latinos with households with full-time workers have basically the same level of pay as a White household with part-time workers.  The main culprit of these statistic is the lack of equal pay; White workers make more than Black and Latino workers and Black and Latina women make 68 and 59 percent, respectively, of what White males make.  But even if Whites, Blacks, and Latinos earned the same amount, the wage gap would only close by 11% between Whites and Blacks and 9% between Latinos and Whites.

Spending less does not close the racial wealth gap.  And here’s the big one, Blacks spend all their money one weaves, fancy clothes, and fancy cars.  But, according to this report, the average white household spends 1.3 times more than the aver black household of the same income group.  As a matter of fact, Whites spend twice as much on entertainment and more on cars.  The only category where Blacks spent more were utilities, such as electricity, heating fuel. Water, sewer and telephone services – which could be tied to required security deposits and additional payments for customer with lower credit scores. 

So there you have it, right there in Black and White (and Latino).  Personal behavior does not close the gap and cannot trump structural racism.  Wealth building compounds with every generation, but it has to start somewhere.  And based on my own personal knowledge, this is one aspect of planning that people of color almost never take advantage of.  This happens for a couple of reasons (1) many people think because they don’t have much (maybe they don’t’ have a retirement account or own a house), they don’t have anything to give and (2) we just hate talking about death (God forbid!).  But you really don’t need to have much in the bank to pass down a substantial amount of money to your children (it’s called life insurance and it’s a tax free inheritance) and we’re all going to die, whether we want to or not, it will happen, so let’s prepare for it, let’s go out with a bang!

Getting people of color to see the value in estate planning has been one of the toughest parts of being a Trusts and Estates lawyer.  When people ask me about the clientele in my practice, I always tell them: I’m not a criminal lawyer, so nobody’s paying me to get out of jail.  When you’re trying to get out of jail or get your loved-one out of jail, you’ll do whatever you can to find the money.  Nobody’s doing that to pay me to draft a will.  I provide a service to people that they believe THEY will never benefit from and won’t even take effect until they die.   

But that mentality is further increasing the wealth gap.  I used to be one of those people who said I wouldn’t leave anything to my kids.  My immigrant-parents struggled, I’m struggling, adversity and learning to overcome it builds character; it built mine.  I want my kids to struggle so that it can build their character.  I had that mentality until I landed an awesome job out of law school making a six-figure salary.  It took me 8 months to save enough money for a 3% down payment on a FHA loan to buy a house, while some of my white counterparts were purchasing homes right off the bat. It was the first time I experienced first-hand the effects of wealth-building over generations.  Here we both were, went to law school, graduated, landed a job, making the same amount, but I had to save money for almost a year before buying a house and they didn’t.  From that moment forward, my idea and definition of success changed.  To me, now, success means being able to pay my child(ren)’s college or graduate school tuition or being able to give them a down payment to buy a home. 

The reason I took the time to go through every element of this report is because I wanted to illustrate how the lack of estate planning can permeate into every aspect of our lives.  Estate planning is so critical to wealth building that almost NOTHING can overcome it; no amount of education, no amount of hard work, and no amount of savings.  Can you imagine how different your child’s life would be if they inherited $100,000 (tax free!!!) at your death? (think about what even $50,000 could do for you).  That’s enough to pay for four years at almost any university in this country; that’s enough to make a 20% down payment on a house that costs $500,000; that’s enough to finance a graduate degree, work at that internship in New York City that will land you that awesome job.  Passing down wealth from one generation to the next is like Dr. Martin Luther King’s Mountain Top speech, where he said: “I’ve seen the Promise land.  I may not get there with you . . .”  So yes, estate planning may not benefit you, but it will benefit your next generation and more importantly, it will build and protect your legacy.  And it’s probably the only behavior that could come close to making a sizable dent in racial wealth gap.

Hey Shingle People!

As I mentioned on my Instagram page, during the month of February, I’ll be doing a Passion for Profit Series.  Starting tomorrow, I will release a new episode every week which will feature four dynamic entrepreneurs who took a burning passion and turned it into a profit.  We discuss tips, obstacles, business plans, funding and much more.  The one thread that runs through each story is how they never let their nagging passion go unanswered.  You can listen to the podcast here and check out episodes here. 

In addition to the podcast series, this month’s blog posts will focus on tools and tips for turning your passion to profit.  Below are five tips to help you turn your passion to profit.

1. PASSION IS NOT ENOUGH 

Let me start with this right out of the gate.  First, while passion for what you want to do is necessary, passion alone is not enough.  Be prepared to work hard, and guess what, even hard work is not enough.  In order to turn your passion to profit, you need to have passion, work hard, know the market and industry you want to enter, know who your ideal client is and most importantly, know how to reach them.  Second, be great at what your passion is.  Seems like a no-brainer, but we’re not always great at the things we have a passion for.  Take some time to assess your skill level and improve it.  All of those things have to work together for your passion to translate to profit.

2.  SAY IT LOUD AND BE PROUD

Starting a new business, especially from scratch, will force you to continuously live outside of your comfort zone.  One of the most important things you can do to build your customer base and reach your target audience is to keep reminding everyone you know and anyone who will listen, about your business.  If you think you’re talking too much about it, then talk some more.  LOL  Sounds crazy but here’s the thing:  you need to get really good at giving the 30-second and one-minute elevator pitch about your business.  By constantly talking about it, you learn to distill and refine your spiel.  Constantly talking about your passion and your business will boost your confidence and help you communicate better with your audience and prospective clients.  So, if you’re usually shy, you can’t be, if you’re an introvert, learn to get over it.  Your business depends on it.

3.  How Do You Do It Better?

We live in an era where if you want something, you can get it 100 different ways.  And you can get it online or you can get it shipped to you.  So the question you should ask yourself is how are you going to do it better?  Find a void in the market you’re in, and see if you can fill it.  I know that sounds cliché and even a bit discouraging because so many people are already telling you to start selling your product or your service.  But that feedback, while encouraging, doesn’t often reflect the true pulse of your industry.  Spend some time thinking about where the void is and how you can offer something different.  That will go a long way in setting your business apart.

4.  THERE’S NO SHAKE AND BAKE

In the words of Vashti Patrick-Joseph of VeePeeJay, there is no shake and bake to building a business.  That means, success doesn’t unfold overnight.  It takes passion, hard work, clever marketing, the right audience, and even when you have all of that, you need LOTS and LOTS of patience.  You need to put in the work as if everybody is watching, but you know that almost no one is.  But eventually, you will turn the corner.  That happens for a few reasons: (2) every other person who started the race and sprinted out of the gate got tired and quit and you’re the last one standing or (2) you decided to change things up, and try a different networking or marketing method, or you decided to lead with a different product or service, or maybe you changed your target audience.  Either way, you know way more now than you did when you first started.  Staying in the game and being prepared for the long haul will reward you in the end.

5.  BUILD A COMMUNITY

In order to make money, you need clients, in order to get clients, people need to know about your and your business.  Building an participating in a community does that.  Sharing your passion with others is a great way to find a community of people who share the same interest as you.  That can include blogging, creating a newsletter, writing e-books, or putting on a webinar.  Basically, just start talking about what you do, how you do it, and what drives you to do it and others who are interested will reach out to you.  Building a community is also a great networking tool because it helps you to get your name out and can lead to finding mentors in the industry.  If you stick with it and participate regularly, eventually, your community will evolve into potential customers and followers.

So there you have it.  Passion is just passion; it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to turn a profit.  It takes preparation, hard work, and patience.  

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!

What were some of the steps you took that helped you turn your passion to profit?

In my last post, I discussed some time management tips to help entrepreneurs stay on top of their time management goals.  

Between my teaching schedule, blogging for the website, The Shingle Life Podcast, and running my solo practice, I have a few more things on my plate that I have to manage carefully.  In order to keep on top of my busy schedule, I’ve gathered a few calendars and apps to help me stay organized.  

First, I have to say, I LOVE planners, I just love them!  Who doesn’t?  There’s something so refreshing about seeing the month or year laid out before me.  For the past couple years, I had been relying on my Outlook and iPhone calendar, but with so many different projects going on, I need a more detailed schedule and I need to be able to look and plan on a weekly and monthly basis.   Also, I miss writing things down.

Mid-last year, I converted to a paper calendar and haven’t looked back since.  However, I have been trying a few different planners and have enjoyed using most of them.  Below is of some of the planners/organizers I use.

Planners:

Last year, I started with the Ban.do’s I Am Very Busy calendar.  It’s so friggin cute, I couldn’t resist.  It’s a 17-month planner and it was perfect because it was the middle of the year and I didn’t have to wait until January to start using or waste a half a year.  It comes with cute little stickers you to help you spruce up your day.  My only problem with it, it that it’s very thick (because it’s 17 months) and it’s a bit small, so I wasn’t really able to put enough hour to hour planning in it.  
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I used this At-A-Glance calendar pad (the one in the picture above is color-coded by day – I bought it at Office Depot) which gave me more space for the hour-to-hour planning in conjunction with the Ban.do calendar.  The great thing is that it’s undated, so you can begin using it at any time of the year.

This year, I’ve switched it up and decided to go bigger.  After Mimi G posted her 2017 calendar on Instagram page, which she got from Michaels, I had to make a visit because it was exactly what I was looking for.  I really like the Create 365 Series, they have a variety of options for the 12-month calendar.  There are two types, one with the month already written in and another blank tabs where you can write in the month. 

I decided on the Create 365 Be Happy planner. (below)

I like it because there’s a monthly calendar, and the week take up a two-page spread, so each day of the week has a column going down the entire page – more space for hour-to-hour planning.  I also bought these additional sheets to insert and use as a to-do list in the middle of two-page spread for the week.  You can also purchase additional stickers and a budget planning component.  There are tons of options when it comes to the 365 Create Series and it is reusable for years to come!

Blogging

I found the Epic Blog planner thanks to Afrobella’s post, The Best Planners to Get Your Life together (she was right!).  As I mentioned in the post about my 2017 goals, I’m planning on publishing a new blog post at least twice a week.  I never intended to blog, but since I’m doing it, I want to do it right and make sure I am producing useful content. 

If you are a new or even experienced blogger and want to make sure you produce relevant, helpful content – in a timely manner, get this planner!  I was on the fence about buying it because I’m trying not to go overboard with planners, but I’m so glad I did.  It helps you develop goals and themes for your blog on a monthly basis so it’s not overwhelming.  You can view a lot of its content and its rave reviews Amazon.com before purchasing it. 

Apps

The only app I use to keep track of my time is ClockeIn 2.  I mentioned this in the podcast episode about time management.  I love this app because it allows you to create project,s and tasks within each project.  You can also alter your time if you mistakenly went over or didn’t start the timer.  At the end of the day, you can see how much time you spent on each project or task.  You can also review your daily, weekly and monthly time spent either by project, task, or for the month. 

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I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! 

What planners or apps do you swear by?