October 13, 2025 • 20 mins
Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Yasmine Cheyenne.
📝 Summary of the Interview
Yasmine Cheyenne, an Air Force veteran, mental wellness advocate, and author, joined Rushion McDonald to discuss her journey from a disadvantaged upbringing to becoming a published author and wellness coach. She shared insights from her books—The Sugar Jar and her latest, Wisdom of the Path—which focus on boundaries, healing, and self-empowerment. The conversation explored her military experience, personal transformation, and how she helps others confront fear and reclaim their lives.
🔑 Key Takeaways 1. Overcoming Fear and Taking Risks
- Fear of failure and disappointment keeps many people stuck.
- Yasmine encourages people to confront fear and take action anyway.
- Her own decision to join the Air Force was a leap of faith that changed her life.
2. Military Discipline and Life Lessons
- The Air Force taught her discipline, consistency, and resilience.
- She applies these lessons to her personal and professional life.
- Quote: “Do you want to bet on yourself? Be willing to believe in yourself.”
3. Writing as Empowerment
- Her first book, The Sugar Jar, focuses on boundaries and self-care.
- Her second book, Wisdom of the Path, is about using past experiences as wisdom, not shame.
- Writing helped her transform her life and inspire others from similar backgrounds.
4. Boundaries and Self-Prioritization
- Without boundaries, people become overwhelmed and resentful.
- Saying “no” and advocating for yourself is essential to mental wellness.
- Quote: “We have to get comfortable letting people be disappointed with us.”
5. Redefining “Selfish”
- Being selfish is often misunderstood.
- Prioritizing yourself is necessary for success and well-being.
- Quote: “Every successful person has had to be selfish at some point.”
6. Wisdom of the Path
- The book encourages readers to trust their instincts and take the next step.
- It’s not a checklist—it’s a collection of relatable stories and reflections.
- Quote: “Use those experiences that you’re judging yourself for as wisdom to help you move forward.”
7. Mental Wellness Practice
- Yasmine helps people through coaching, writing, and speaking.
- She emphasizes healing through storytelling and shared experiences.
8. Accessibility
- Her books are available in print, digital, and audio formats.
- She personally narrates the audiobook version of Wisdom of the Path.
💬 Notable Quotes
- “Even if things fail, you have what it takes to get yourself to where you want to be.”
- “Take the meat and leave the bone.”
- “You already know what the next step is. What would happen if you just took it?”
- “We’ve been an enemy toward ourselves for years and don’t even realize it.”
#SHMS #STRAW #BEST
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am Raushan McDonald, a host of weekly Money Making
Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show
provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading other
people's success stories and start living your own. If you
want to be a guest oh my show, please visit
our website Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click to be
a guest button Chris submit and information will come directly
(00:23):
to me. Now let's get this show start. My guest
is an Air Force veteran, victim advocate, and single mother
who is a mental wellness practice but she's also the
author of the book Wisdom of the Path. Please welcome
to Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Yasmin Chyenne. How you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
How are you? Thanks for having me great?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Did I say your name correctly?
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
You did?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Okay, I want to make sure I got My name
is Rushan and sometimes people say rush Hue or rauh,
And I just want to make sure because of the
fact that you know it's important. You know that's part
of your legacy. When you walk in a room and
people announce you, you want to make sure there's denounce correctly.
Tell us a little bit about you before we get
into the book, miss Anne.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, well, you know you share that I'm an Air
Force veteran, but I'm also a book one natives, and
I just feel like my purpose is to help people
create daily lives that empower them to do what they love,
which is very much aligned with what you do here
on this show.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yeah, that's that's what I do.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Now. Let me ask you this when you say that,
because sometimes when I kind of like I'm a good
listener and I'm assuming you're a good listener too, and
when people and there's a lot of people out there
that they want to do something, but they don't want
to fear stop something, can you talk about how do
you push people beyond that fear so they can reach
for their dream ask me.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Oh, my gosh, that's I think that's the hardest part.
The fear gets in the way and get into a
cycle of doing the same things over and over and
over again. And I think for a lot of us,
we're afraid of disappointment, we're afraid of failure, We're afraid
of dealing with and accepting the fact that things may
not go the way that we hope. And so what
I like to do is get people to confront the
fact that even if things don't go the way that
(02:06):
you hope, even if things fail, you have what it
takes to get yourself to where you want to be,
but you have to be willing to keep going. And
I think once we can confront the fact that there's
so much evidence that we failed before, there's so much
evidence that we've made it to where we are today,
then we can feel empowered to keep moving.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
We know that empowerment to keep moving. You know, I've
had a tremendous amount of success in my life. I've
also failed in my life. And sometimes I know mentoring
is a very popular term. I like to believe I
had mentors. I just didn't. It just wasn't the term
that you had back in the day when I was
growing up. They was like people who just there that
(02:46):
kept you on the right track. That's what they would
call people who kept you on the right track. Now
were used in the military. Why did you make the
decision to go in the Air Force?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
You know, it was one of those things where I
knew I was not prepared to be an adult. Yet
I knew I wasn't ready. I knew if I stayed
in New York. You know, I was going to get
into some mess, and I knew I had a future
that I wanted for myself. I knew that I really
wanted to succeed. I knew that I really wanted to
(03:18):
but I had never seen anyone do it, and I
had just never seen it happen before. So I really
thought to myself, well, if I joined the Air Force,
then I can go to college. Then I can see
the world. I thought I would quote unquote see the world,
and I can have an opportunity to, you know, basically
throw a monkey wrench in what my life would have
been had I stayed where I was, or what I
(03:39):
believed it because I've been had I stayed. So I
just decided, I mean, there was no plan behind this,
Like I decided to join the military on a whim
and left two months later. So thankfully it all worked out.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
And that's why I feel like I can practice what
I preached because I truly have lived the experience of
taking the risks. Even if it ends up not being
what you wanted, you could find a way to turn around.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You know, something jasmine, When you say you joined it
on a whim, you know. So, I mean, it had
to be a lot of people telling you, girl, you crazy,
You're not gonna do that, that's waste your time. Why
are you gonna join? So how did you so? You know,
because that's important because I listened and I heard that.
I went, well, if that means nobody was like expecting you,
(04:25):
that was the right direction for your personality.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Correct, oh right, absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
You know you're not gonna listen to nobody.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
No. I had. The only running I had ever done
was running for the bus. You know, I had never
run a day in my life. And I think I
just wasn't the type of person that my mother, you know,
my mother didn't think I would be the person that
would like fall in line and follow directions in that
kind of very militant way. When you say, how did
I do it? On a whim? I went in and
(04:55):
visited a recruiter without telling anyone. I felt in my
gut that this was something that I needed to do,
and I knew that if I told other people about
it that they would talk me out of it. And
I knew why, you know, people would be afraid. People
want me to be safe. And there's a lot of
things that go into what happens to your mind, your
body is spirit when you join the service. But I
(05:16):
didn't really see any other options, you know, being growing
up socioeconomically disadvantaged AKA four, I didn't really see any
other outlets to be able to create the change in
my life that I wanted. And so that was that
whim that risks that I felt like I needed to
take on myself in my life to just have an
opportunity for something different.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I'm not turning, not trying to turn this show
into you know, go join the air for a show,
but it's important that people understand that it's an option,
a very positive option. But you have to realize there
are rules that they're not going to adjust for you.
So that means discipline, and I'd like to talk about
the discipline that you encounter and when you join and
(06:01):
had to sustain the long length of time you was
in it that you still use today. Those messages, those
those recordings that will talk to you about, you know,
waking up at a certain time, being respectful of being people,
understanding that you are protecting the country and understand, but
thank you for your service, you know, to our country.
(06:21):
You know, talk about that those tools that will talk
to you that you still use today.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, well, this is saying that I love to keep
close to me, which you probably heard before. It's called
take the meat and leave the bones. Right. So when
I think about a lot of the experiences that I've had,
especially the military, I like to take what work and
leave what. I know that and one of them is
discipline and commitment. It's you have to be willing to
show up, and you have to be willing to be consistent,
and you have to be willing to do it even
(06:48):
when it's not even when it's not panning out. And
that's where I think a lot of people get stuck,
myself included. But it's one of the things that I
learned in the Air Force, and being in the military
is so young and and in my life is something
that I guess was ingrained in me that be willing
to bet on yourself, be willing to believe in yourself.
And I think also learning a level of I can
(07:10):
remember making it through things that I knew I didn't
believe I could make it through. And it doesn't have
to be a military. If you're listening and you haven't
been in the service, maybe it was a relationship you
didn't think you would make it through. Maybe it was
a job you didn't think you would make it through.
Maybe it was your PhD program. Maybe you know, there's
so many things that we go through. Everything. I don't
have the discipline for this, I don't have the cons
consistency for this. I don't have the experience for this.
(07:32):
But them we make it. And so when we make it,
that is evidence that no matter what comes our way,
we know we have what it takes. We have a
tool to make it again. We don't want to keep
going through these hard and tough experiences, but we have
what we have what it takes. And I think that's
one of the main things that discipline at consistency, but
also believing in myself that I took away from that time.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Wow talking to me and Cheyenne your first book, and
I want to bring that up because I come from
I'm a disenfranchised community, you know, filth Forard, Houston, Texas.
Six sisters, two brothers, both of my parents who lived
in a two bedroom shotgun house. And so when I
went to high school, even though I graduated with honors,
(08:15):
I still didn't have the discipline as a writer. And
when I was in college as a freshman, I had
to go back and take remedia English or to advance.
And now I write today. I write all the time.
I became a sitcom writer. And now you are writing books.
This is your second book. I want to go back
to the first book. That had to be a very
powerful moment in your life to know that you said
(08:38):
I didn't say it, you said I came from a
disenfranchised community, poor both folks, and now you're writing books.
Talk about that journey in writing the first book and
putting the right words and people acknowledging what you have
to write changes their life.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, you know, I think this is one of the
beautiful things about having someone like myself, or like having
someone like you, having this platform, because I think there's
an idea that, oh, because you come from you know,
the hood or the projects, or from a background, or
from you know, all of these different places, that you
can't be well educated. And I think I was incredibly
well educated. The teachers in my schools, in these neighborhoods
(09:16):
were so devoted to my education in my writing and
my learning and my and building my skill set that
I'm so all of the friends that I went to
school with, the majority of them are today nurses, doctors,
lawyers like or went into the service or opened businesses
at this point. You know, we're far away from elementary
school at this point, but they they they grew, and
(09:39):
so I think it's important to remember that even though
the neighborhood may not have all of the access as
everyone else or as other people, the blooming was still there,
the belief was still there, the systems were still there.
And I know that's not the case for every neighborhood
like mine, but for me, that was something that really
(09:59):
really change my life for sure, And not that you
don't rant about school systems, but that was something that
without that, I don't know what my life would have
been like.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So The Sugar Jaw, that's your first book before we
get to Wisdom of the Path. You write books about
self empowerment and all aspects of life. And even in
this conversation, I love how you take an experience and you,
like you said, the military can be shared in different
like walks of life, and that's important that people shouldn't
be understand that your experience can be balanced in different lanes.
So it's relatable to the everyday person, because that's all
(10:32):
you're doing. Yes, me, you just want to be relatable
so you can motivate people to understand that this can
be you. Why was writing The Sugar Jaw so important?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Yeah? I think that without boundaries, most of us walk
around resentful. We are upset, we are exhausted, we are overwhelmed,
we are drained. And I think boundaries is the beginning
steps of being able to take care of yourself. And
for those of us who are listening who don't know
what boundaries are, it's really being willing to say no,
It's being willing to let people know I'm a capacity.
(11:03):
This isn't going to work for me. I don't have
the time, you know, advocating for yourself, standing up for yourself,
and for a lot of people, that is the hardest
thing to do in relationships. And so The Sugar Jar
is an introduction into how you can begin to create
boundaries in your relationships that ensure that your relationships are
healthy and that you are also our priority in your life,
(11:25):
and that you're not just giving and showing up for
everyone without thinking about yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Wow, you know that's a book about understanding you. That's
a book about you. Know, when you wake up in
the morning, it should be about you. A lot of
people use the word selfish, and it is probably the
most misunderstood word I've ever heard in my life because
people say, oh, you selfish. Okay, I'll tell you some
every successful person in this world, an athlete Lebron James,
(11:54):
is very selfish. Otherwise he wouldn't be Lebron James. You
have to understand one day it has to be about
you to achieve your dreams. Now. Selfish is bad when
it becomes all about you. When you distance yourselves, you
feel that you're better than people, and you don't want
to give back to the community. That's when it's selfish.
When you're blessings that you've been given have being given
(12:15):
to you, you don't want to share with anybody. That's selfish.
But if you're motivated to look in the mirror and say,
I'm doing this because this is part of my dream,
this is part of my path. When I get there, oh,
I will look back. And that's what the sugar Jaw.
When I was reading it, I felt that was the
blessing of my relationship with the words that you were
given to me did I misunderstand anything asking no.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I love that, and I think that that's the essence
of what the book is truly. I think so many
of us are afraid of being called selfish. So many
of us are afraid of disappointing people. So and we've
had it happen. When you finally get the courage to
say no, we've had to say you're selfish. And so
we're like, that's the worst thing, one of the worst
(12:59):
things you can be called. Yes, that's when you feel
like you're always giving and showing up to people. And
so sometimes we have to just be We have to
let people sit in the discomfort. We have to get
comfortable letting people be disappointed with us, because if we are,
if we're never disappointing anyone, and we're always showing up,
if we're always there twenty four to seven, then I know,
(13:19):
I know you're tired. I know you don't have time
for your own dreams. I know you don't have time
for yourself, maybe not even for your family and the
things that matter for you. And so this hasn't writing
everybody else off and only focusing on yourself. It's prioritizing
yourself so that you can show up for the things
that matter for you in your life and also for
every everything else in your life that matters too.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
She's preaching right now.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
She is preaching.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Hear me preaching the word of the Word of Chyenne.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Don't go anywhere. We will be right back with more
insights from Money Making Conversations master Class. Welcome back to
Money Making Conversation master Class, hosted by me Rashaan McDonald.
Money Making Conversation master Class continues online at Moneymaking Conversations
(14:11):
dot com and follow money Making Conversations master Class on Facebook,
X and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Let me get back to my favorite person straight out
of Brooklyn Air Force, veteran victim, afflicate, single mom who
has a mental wellness practice. Now talk about that before
we get into the book.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, I will say I'm not a single mom anymore.
I was at a time in my life. I think
that so many of us have things that we've gone through,
things that we thought would break us, things that maybe
did break us, maybe did transform us. I hope that
when we go through things that we use it as
I like to use things to push me forward. I
(14:51):
there are moments where I definitely think, oh, my goodness,
I'm going to give up, and then I just find someone,
find something a book, a documentary, a scripture, a you know,
anything that can get me back to that place. And
so maybe that's the vibrance to you here and something
I've chosen. And I think that's why I teach the
work that I teach. I think a lot of us
(15:13):
are waiting for that moment to happen where all of
a sudden everything makes sense. And in my experience, we
have to choose each minute to make it make sense
when it doesn't make sense, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Absolutely, I've been involved with when it comes to books,
because defining your voice, you know, with Steve Harvey was
to act like a lady, thinking like a man, sold
over three million copies worldwide, translating in thirty different languages,
two movies, and then the next book was always what
is that next book? What is that next book? You
wanted to write another book? Why was it important to
follow up The Sugar Jar with another book?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I'm a writer, That's right, what I do.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
This is what I do. Okay, all right, okay, I
don't jokes. I don't talk about sports. I write, okay
about sport.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I love watching it. Yeah, so I think that's definitely
the motivator. And I think that people, even though we
are in a digital age, I think that people still
love reading a book that they can relate to, love
getting absorbed in something where they see themselves in it.
And I love being a part of helping tell stories. So, yeah,
(16:21):
is it.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Do you have this in audio too? It's just only
a digital imprint.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
No, I actually have it in audio as well, and
I've read the book as well.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Wow. That let's talk about that, because that is a
that was one of his biggest sellers was audio, and
also Steve Harvey's biggest seller was audio because a lot
of times my wife, you know, she likes to drive,
drive a lot. It's incredible. She just hopped out there
are things called airplanes. Honey, yeah, airplanes, you can get them.
I'm driving, Okay, you want to drive from Atlanta to
(16:52):
Houston and back from Houston. And so she always listens
to audiobooks. I don't say who to her. She loves it,
and so she listens to audio books. Now, let's talk
about the book to give us some background on it
and why you wrote this book.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, so you know when I think about we talked
about the boundaries. Right, If you're set in the boundaries
in your life, then you're finally starting to say no
to people, You're finally starting to stand up for yourself,
You're finally starting to advocate for yourself. Right. Well, what
usually happens when that when you do that, is you
start to lose relationships. You realize people were only friends
with you because you had no boundaries. Maybe you realize
(17:25):
your relationship, your marriage is over, you need to change
your job. And so what happens when you have all
of those tough experiences, You're trying to figure out, how
do I get through this? How do I get to
the other side? That is what Wisdom of the Path
is about. This book is not necessarily it's not going
to give you any steps. Unfortunately, I don't have a checklist.
I haven't found one it so that there was one,
(17:45):
i'd be using it. But when we hear other people's
stories and we can see ourselves and their experiences, even
though it may not be the same, you're inspired, empowered,
and most importantly, we realize we're not alone. Can give
us just that moment of not tearing ourselves apart. Not
judging ourselves anymore and being on our own side, so
(18:07):
that we can allow people to support us, we can
allow helping, and we can finally figure out what it
is we need to do next, because when you're beating
yourself up, you can't even see clearly. And a lot
of us have been doing that for years, decades, and
we don't even realize that we've been an enemy towards ourselves.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
For lack of a better terms, Well, you know, Wisdom
of the Path that tells me that you know, you know,
as they say, you see some footprints, put your foot
right in that same footprint, and don't try to deviate
because that path will take you where you need to go.
Just follow it. Now, when you walk that path, they're
gonna be some downtimes. Sometimes it's gonna break you. They're
(18:44):
gonna be some fun times. Sometimes they're gonna tell you
don't so much fun. It might take you off that path,
it might challenge you to get off that path. Is
that really the nature of the book and the nature
of the title, Yasmin, Yes, I.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Think the nature of Wisdom of the Path is you
already have in you, You already know what the next
step is you already know you should say no, you
already know what you should be doing. So what would
happen is you just took the next step and the
next step and the next step, and moved forward in
your life, finally started the business that finally did the
(19:22):
thing that you've been thinking about doing, and use those
experiences that you're judging yourself for as wisdom to help
you move forward. And I think that is the essence
of Wisdom of the Path to finally take those past
experiences as lessons as opposed to mistakes.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Wow, kick all that fear to the curve, ladies, and
Jim kicking all that fear to the curve. As we
close up, please tell everybody how they can get your book.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yes, The Wisdom of the Path is available at Ron's
Noble Target, Amazon, everywhere books are sold.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversations Master
Class hosted by me Rashaon McDonald. Thank you to our
guests on the show today and thank you our listening audience. Now,
if you want to listen to any episode or want
to register to be a guest on my show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making conversations.
(20:18):
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
your gifts. Keep winning,
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I am Raushan McDonald, a host of weekly Money Making
Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show
provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading other
people's success stories and start living your own. If you
want to be a guest oh my show, please visit
our website Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click to be
a guest button Chris submit and information will come directly
(00:23):
to me. Now let's get this show start. My guest
is an Air Force veteran, victim advocate, and single mother
who is a mental wellness practice but she's also the
author of the book Wisdom of the Path. Please welcome
to Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Yasmin Chyenne. How you doing?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Hi?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
How are you? Thanks for having me great?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Did I say your name correctly?
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
You did?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Okay, I want to make sure I got My name
is Rushan and sometimes people say rush Hue or rauh,
And I just want to make sure because of the
fact that you know it's important. You know that's part
of your legacy. When you walk in a room and
people announce you, you want to make sure there's denounce correctly.
Tell us a little bit about you before we get
into the book, miss Anne.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, well, you know you share that I'm an Air
Force veteran, but I'm also a book one natives, and
I just feel like my purpose is to help people
create daily lives that empower them to do what they love,
which is very much aligned with what you do here
on this show.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yeah, that's that's what I do.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Now. Let me ask you this when you say that,
because sometimes when I kind of like I'm a good
listener and I'm assuming you're a good listener too, and
when people and there's a lot of people out there
that they want to do something, but they don't want
to fear stop something, can you talk about how do
you push people beyond that fear so they can reach
for their dream ask me.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Oh, my gosh, that's I think that's the hardest part.
The fear gets in the way and get into a
cycle of doing the same things over and over and
over again. And I think for a lot of us,
we're afraid of disappointment, we're afraid of failure, We're afraid
of dealing with and accepting the fact that things may
not go the way that we hope. And so what
I like to do is get people to confront the
fact that even if things don't go the way that
(02:06):
you hope, even if things fail, you have what it
takes to get yourself to where you want to be,
but you have to be willing to keep going. And
I think once we can confront the fact that there's
so much evidence that we failed before, there's so much
evidence that we've made it to where we are today,
then we can feel empowered to keep moving.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
We know that empowerment to keep moving. You know, I've
had a tremendous amount of success in my life. I've
also failed in my life. And sometimes I know mentoring
is a very popular term. I like to believe I
had mentors. I just didn't. It just wasn't the term
that you had back in the day when I was
growing up. They was like people who just there that
(02:46):
kept you on the right track. That's what they would
call people who kept you on the right track. Now
were used in the military. Why did you make the
decision to go in the Air Force?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
You know, it was one of those things where I
knew I was not prepared to be an adult. Yet
I knew I wasn't ready. I knew if I stayed
in New York. You know, I was going to get
into some mess, and I knew I had a future
that I wanted for myself. I knew that I really
wanted to succeed. I knew that I really wanted to
(03:18):
but I had never seen anyone do it, and I
had just never seen it happen before. So I really
thought to myself, well, if I joined the Air Force,
then I can go to college. Then I can see
the world. I thought I would quote unquote see the world,
and I can have an opportunity to, you know, basically
throw a monkey wrench in what my life would have
been had I stayed where I was, or what I
(03:39):
believed it because I've been had I stayed. So I
just decided, I mean, there was no plan behind this,
Like I decided to join the military on a whim
and left two months later. So thankfully it all worked out.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
And that's why I feel like I can practice what
I preached because I truly have lived the experience of
taking the risks. Even if it ends up not being
what you wanted, you could find a way to turn around.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You know, something jasmine, When you say you joined it
on a whim, you know. So, I mean, it had
to be a lot of people telling you, girl, you crazy,
You're not gonna do that, that's waste your time. Why
are you gonna join? So how did you so? You know,
because that's important because I listened and I heard that.
I went, well, if that means nobody was like expecting you,
(04:25):
that was the right direction for your personality.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Correct, oh right, absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
You know you're not gonna listen to nobody.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
No. I had. The only running I had ever done
was running for the bus. You know, I had never
run a day in my life. And I think I
just wasn't the type of person that my mother, you know,
my mother didn't think I would be the person that
would like fall in line and follow directions in that
kind of very militant way. When you say, how did
I do it? On a whim? I went in and
(04:55):
visited a recruiter without telling anyone. I felt in my
gut that this was something that I needed to do,
and I knew that if I told other people about
it that they would talk me out of it. And
I knew why, you know, people would be afraid. People
want me to be safe. And there's a lot of
things that go into what happens to your mind, your
body is spirit when you join the service. But I
(05:16):
didn't really see any other options, you know, being growing
up socioeconomically disadvantaged AKA four, I didn't really see any
other outlets to be able to create the change in
my life that I wanted. And so that was that
whim that risks that I felt like I needed to
take on myself in my life to just have an
opportunity for something different.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, I'm not turning, not trying to turn this show
into you know, go join the air for a show,
but it's important that people understand that it's an option,
a very positive option. But you have to realize there
are rules that they're not going to adjust for you.
So that means discipline, and I'd like to talk about
the discipline that you encounter and when you join and
(06:01):
had to sustain the long length of time you was
in it that you still use today. Those messages, those
those recordings that will talk to you about, you know,
waking up at a certain time, being respectful of being people,
understanding that you are protecting the country and understand, but
thank you for your service, you know, to our country.
(06:21):
You know, talk about that those tools that will talk
to you that you still use today.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, well, this is saying that I love to keep
close to me, which you probably heard before. It's called
take the meat and leave the bones. Right. So when
I think about a lot of the experiences that I've had,
especially the military, I like to take what work and
leave what. I know that and one of them is
discipline and commitment. It's you have to be willing to
show up, and you have to be willing to be consistent,
and you have to be willing to do it even
(06:48):
when it's not even when it's not panning out. And
that's where I think a lot of people get stuck,
myself included. But it's one of the things that I
learned in the Air Force, and being in the military
is so young and and in my life is something
that I guess was ingrained in me that be willing
to bet on yourself, be willing to believe in yourself.
And I think also learning a level of I can
(07:10):
remember making it through things that I knew I didn't
believe I could make it through. And it doesn't have
to be a military. If you're listening and you haven't
been in the service, maybe it was a relationship you
didn't think you would make it through. Maybe it was
a job you didn't think you would make it through.
Maybe it was your PhD program. Maybe you know, there's
so many things that we go through. Everything. I don't
have the discipline for this, I don't have the cons
consistency for this. I don't have the experience for this.
(07:32):
But them we make it. And so when we make it,
that is evidence that no matter what comes our way,
we know we have what it takes. We have a
tool to make it again. We don't want to keep
going through these hard and tough experiences, but we have
what we have what it takes. And I think that's
one of the main things that discipline at consistency, but
also believing in myself that I took away from that time.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Wow talking to me and Cheyenne your first book, and
I want to bring that up because I come from
I'm a disenfranchised community, you know, filth Forard, Houston, Texas.
Six sisters, two brothers, both of my parents who lived
in a two bedroom shotgun house. And so when I
went to high school, even though I graduated with honors,
(08:15):
I still didn't have the discipline as a writer. And
when I was in college as a freshman, I had
to go back and take remedia English or to advance.
And now I write today. I write all the time.
I became a sitcom writer. And now you are writing books.
This is your second book. I want to go back
to the first book. That had to be a very
powerful moment in your life to know that you said
(08:38):
I didn't say it, you said I came from a
disenfranchised community, poor both folks, and now you're writing books.
Talk about that journey in writing the first book and
putting the right words and people acknowledging what you have
to write changes their life.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, you know, I think this is one of the
beautiful things about having someone like myself, or like having
someone like you, having this platform, because I think there's
an idea that, oh, because you come from you know,
the hood or the projects, or from a background, or
from you know, all of these different places, that you
can't be well educated. And I think I was incredibly
well educated. The teachers in my schools, in these neighborhoods
(09:16):
were so devoted to my education in my writing and
my learning and my and building my skill set that
I'm so all of the friends that I went to
school with, the majority of them are today nurses, doctors,
lawyers like or went into the service or opened businesses
at this point. You know, we're far away from elementary
school at this point, but they they they grew, and
(09:39):
so I think it's important to remember that even though
the neighborhood may not have all of the access as
everyone else or as other people, the blooming was still there,
the belief was still there, the systems were still there.
And I know that's not the case for every neighborhood
like mine, but for me, that was something that really
(09:59):
really change my life for sure, And not that you
don't rant about school systems, but that was something that
without that, I don't know what my life would have
been like.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So The Sugar Jaw, that's your first book before we
get to Wisdom of the Path. You write books about
self empowerment and all aspects of life. And even in
this conversation, I love how you take an experience and you,
like you said, the military can be shared in different
like walks of life, and that's important that people shouldn't
be understand that your experience can be balanced in different lanes.
So it's relatable to the everyday person, because that's all
(10:32):
you're doing. Yes, me, you just want to be relatable
so you can motivate people to understand that this can
be you. Why was writing The Sugar Jaw so important?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Yeah? I think that without boundaries, most of us walk
around resentful. We are upset, we are exhausted, we are overwhelmed,
we are drained. And I think boundaries is the beginning
steps of being able to take care of yourself. And
for those of us who are listening who don't know
what boundaries are, it's really being willing to say no,
It's being willing to let people know I'm a capacity.
(11:03):
This isn't going to work for me. I don't have
the time, you know, advocating for yourself, standing up for yourself,
and for a lot of people, that is the hardest
thing to do in relationships. And so The Sugar Jar
is an introduction into how you can begin to create
boundaries in your relationships that ensure that your relationships are
healthy and that you are also our priority in your life,
(11:25):
and that you're not just giving and showing up for
everyone without thinking about yourself.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Wow, you know that's a book about understanding you. That's
a book about you. Know, when you wake up in
the morning, it should be about you. A lot of
people use the word selfish, and it is probably the
most misunderstood word I've ever heard in my life because
people say, oh, you selfish. Okay, I'll tell you some
every successful person in this world, an athlete Lebron James,
(11:54):
is very selfish. Otherwise he wouldn't be Lebron James. You
have to understand one day it has to be about
you to achieve your dreams. Now. Selfish is bad when
it becomes all about you. When you distance yourselves, you
feel that you're better than people, and you don't want
to give back to the community. That's when it's selfish.
When you're blessings that you've been given have being given
(12:15):
to you, you don't want to share with anybody. That's selfish.
But if you're motivated to look in the mirror and say,
I'm doing this because this is part of my dream,
this is part of my path. When I get there, oh,
I will look back. And that's what the sugar Jaw.
When I was reading it, I felt that was the
blessing of my relationship with the words that you were
given to me did I misunderstand anything asking no.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I love that, and I think that that's the essence
of what the book is truly. I think so many
of us are afraid of being called selfish. So many
of us are afraid of disappointing people. So and we've
had it happen. When you finally get the courage to
say no, we've had to say you're selfish. And so
we're like, that's the worst thing, one of the worst
(12:59):
things you can be called. Yes, that's when you feel
like you're always giving and showing up to people. And
so sometimes we have to just be We have to
let people sit in the discomfort. We have to get
comfortable letting people be disappointed with us, because if we are,
if we're never disappointing anyone, and we're always showing up,
if we're always there twenty four to seven, then I know,
(13:19):
I know you're tired. I know you don't have time
for your own dreams. I know you don't have time
for yourself, maybe not even for your family and the
things that matter for you. And so this hasn't writing
everybody else off and only focusing on yourself. It's prioritizing
yourself so that you can show up for the things
that matter for you in your life and also for
every everything else in your life that matters too.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
She's preaching right now.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
She is preaching.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Hear me preaching the word of the Word of Chyenne.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Don't go anywhere. We will be right back with more
insights from Money Making Conversations master Class. Welcome back to
Money Making Conversation master Class, hosted by me Rashaan McDonald.
Money Making Conversation master Class continues online at Moneymaking Conversations
(14:11):
dot com and follow money Making Conversations master Class on Facebook,
X and Instagram.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Let me get back to my favorite person straight out
of Brooklyn Air Force, veteran victim, afflicate, single mom who
has a mental wellness practice. Now talk about that before
we get into the book.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, I will say I'm not a single mom anymore.
I was at a time in my life. I think
that so many of us have things that we've gone through,
things that we thought would break us, things that maybe
did break us, maybe did transform us. I hope that
when we go through things that we use it as
I like to use things to push me forward. I
(14:51):
there are moments where I definitely think, oh, my goodness,
I'm going to give up, and then I just find someone,
find something a book, a documentary, a scripture, a you know,
anything that can get me back to that place. And
so maybe that's the vibrance to you here and something
I've chosen. And I think that's why I teach the
work that I teach. I think a lot of us
(15:13):
are waiting for that moment to happen where all of
a sudden everything makes sense. And in my experience, we
have to choose each minute to make it make sense
when it doesn't make sense, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Absolutely, I've been involved with when it comes to books,
because defining your voice, you know, with Steve Harvey was
to act like a lady, thinking like a man, sold
over three million copies worldwide, translating in thirty different languages,
two movies, and then the next book was always what
is that next book? What is that next book? You
wanted to write another book? Why was it important to
follow up The Sugar Jar with another book?
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I'm a writer, That's right, what I do.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
This is what I do. Okay, all right, okay, I
don't jokes. I don't talk about sports. I write, okay
about sport.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I love watching it. Yeah, so I think that's definitely
the motivator. And I think that people, even though we
are in a digital age, I think that people still
love reading a book that they can relate to, love
getting absorbed in something where they see themselves in it.
And I love being a part of helping tell stories. So, yeah,
(16:21):
is it.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Do you have this in audio too? It's just only
a digital imprint.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
No, I actually have it in audio as well, and
I've read the book as well.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Wow. That let's talk about that, because that is a
that was one of his biggest sellers was audio, and
also Steve Harvey's biggest seller was audio because a lot
of times my wife, you know, she likes to drive,
drive a lot. It's incredible. She just hopped out there
are things called airplanes. Honey, yeah, airplanes, you can get them.
I'm driving, Okay, you want to drive from Atlanta to
(16:52):
Houston and back from Houston. And so she always listens
to audiobooks. I don't say who to her. She loves it,
and so she listens to audio books. Now, let's talk
about the book to give us some background on it
and why you wrote this book.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, so you know when I think about we talked
about the boundaries. Right, If you're set in the boundaries
in your life, then you're finally starting to say no
to people, You're finally starting to stand up for yourself,
You're finally starting to advocate for yourself. Right. Well, what
usually happens when that when you do that, is you
start to lose relationships. You realize people were only friends
with you because you had no boundaries. Maybe you realize
(17:25):
your relationship, your marriage is over, you need to change
your job. And so what happens when you have all
of those tough experiences, You're trying to figure out, how
do I get through this? How do I get to
the other side? That is what Wisdom of the Path
is about. This book is not necessarily it's not going
to give you any steps. Unfortunately, I don't have a checklist.
I haven't found one it so that there was one,
(17:45):
i'd be using it. But when we hear other people's
stories and we can see ourselves and their experiences, even
though it may not be the same, you're inspired, empowered,
and most importantly, we realize we're not alone. Can give
us just that moment of not tearing ourselves apart. Not
judging ourselves anymore and being on our own side, so
(18:07):
that we can allow people to support us, we can
allow helping, and we can finally figure out what it
is we need to do next, because when you're beating
yourself up, you can't even see clearly. And a lot
of us have been doing that for years, decades, and
we don't even realize that we've been an enemy towards ourselves.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
For lack of a better terms, Well, you know, Wisdom
of the Path that tells me that you know, you know,
as they say, you see some footprints, put your foot
right in that same footprint, and don't try to deviate
because that path will take you where you need to go.
Just follow it. Now, when you walk that path, they're
gonna be some downtimes. Sometimes it's gonna break you. They're
(18:44):
gonna be some fun times. Sometimes they're gonna tell you
don't so much fun. It might take you off that path,
it might challenge you to get off that path. Is
that really the nature of the book and the nature
of the title, Yasmin, Yes, I.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Think the nature of Wisdom of the Path is you
already have in you, You already know what the next
step is you already know you should say no, you
already know what you should be doing. So what would
happen is you just took the next step and the
next step and the next step, and moved forward in
your life, finally started the business that finally did the
(19:22):
thing that you've been thinking about doing, and use those
experiences that you're judging yourself for as wisdom to help
you move forward. And I think that is the essence
of Wisdom of the Path to finally take those past
experiences as lessons as opposed to mistakes.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Wow, kick all that fear to the curve, ladies, and
Jim kicking all that fear to the curve. As we
close up, please tell everybody how they can get your book.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Yes, The Wisdom of the Path is available at Ron's
Noble Target, Amazon, everywhere books are sold.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
This has been another edition of Money Making Conversations Master
Class hosted by me Rashaon McDonald. Thank you to our
guests on the show today and thank you our listening audience. Now,
if you want to listen to any episode or want
to register to be a guest on my show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making conversations.
(20:18):
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
your gifts. Keep winning,
The Steve Harvey Morning Show News
Hosts And Creators
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Thomas "Nephew Tommy" Miles
Carla Ferrell
Kier "Junior" Spates
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