April 2, 2025 • 36 mins
BA Fam, she’s back! In this episode We’re joined once again by the one and only Morgan DeBaun CEO of Blavity, serial entrepreneur, and now a FOUR-time guest on the show! Morgan has been making big moves, and this time, she’s here to talk about her new book, “Rewrite Your Rules”, and how she’s navigating life and business on her own terms.
We get into the real about entrepreneurship! what it actually takes to build a business from the ground up, the sacrifices no one talks about, and why staying true to your personal values is the ultimate flex. Morgan also gives us a peek into her life outside of work, sharing how she balances being a boss with family, self-care, and a strong support system.
If you’ve been feeling stuck in your career, business, or just life in general, this episode is for you! Morgan is dropping gems on how to break free from expectations and create success in a way that works for YOU.
What You’ll Learn:
✨ How Morgan built Blavity and what’s kept her going
✨ The biggest lessons from “Rewrite Your Rules”
✨ Why having the right team (and personal boundaries) is a game-changer
✨ The real talk on entrepreneurship—beyond the highlight reel
Links + Resources:
📖 Grab your copy of “Rewrite Your Rules” → Rewriteyourrules.com
📲 Follow Morgan on [Instagram @morgandebaun
🎙️ Stay connected with Brown Ambition → @brownambitionpodcast
Don’t miss this one—hit play and get ready to rewrite your own rules!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, BA, fam. I don't even know if I need
to introduce this week's guest to you, but Morgan Debon,
the CEO of Blavity, is in the house. Morgan, how
many times you been on BA do you know?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
At least two or three times?
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Maybe your fourth time?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Really?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Wow, I had forgotten how early in the game you
had come on, And I just thank you for that,
because when you're starting a podcast, I mean it's different now,
but yeah, we started this ten years ago and for
you to say yes at the time, it felt huge
for you to say yes to my invitation to come on.
And I actually went back and I listened to don't
(00:42):
make that face, because you know what, I realized, you're
just the same.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Like I am the same, You just sound the same.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Your vibe is the same for change, yeah, and I
part of me is I just was like really impressed
by that. I can't say the same for myself. I
listened back to my in early VA days and I'm like, oh,
baby girl, but how does that make you feel to
hear that? Like what do you?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I think I am pretty much.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I've always lived by like a center of principles and
I always feel pretty comfortable with who I am. I
think the times in my life where I've been the
most unhappy, it's because I let other people influence me
too much.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
But like when I'm just me, then everything is much easier.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, I think, and being around people like you, I
mean people like you, not to make you feel like
I'm putting you under a microscope, but I feel calm
with in your presence, and I'm someone who's like you know,
I maybe it's like a little bit I undiagnosed ADHD
and just like in general enthusiasm, but I am an introvert,
(01:47):
but I am excitable, and I am emotional and raw,
and that's just who I am. And so I feel
like you are like the duck, calm on the surface,
but your little feetbe kicking a.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Lot going on behind me scenes.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
That's right, Yeah, but that seems to be like a
core of who you are. Where did that come from?
Like that inner sense of calm and self love. I
definitely did not grow up with a deep sense of
like comfort with myself and all of that, And I
just wonder if you could talk a bit about that.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
You know, I think that being grounded today is because
I feel like I have made a lot of a
sequence of choices and a series of choices that were mine.
And so when there are situations that are not great,
when my life isn't going according to plan, when we
overspend on a budget or a relationship doesn't work out,
(02:40):
I feel like, at a minimum, I still had control
over the path that I chose, And I think that
gives me a sense of calm and ground like being grounded.
And I think for anybody who feels like wants to
feel that's kind of like you're never too high and
are never too low.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Amazing things happen. Close a huge deal at.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Blavity, or you know, my partner Josh closed a huge
deal for his business because he's awesome an entrepreneur. We
go out, we celebrate. If something bad happens, we go
out and we manage it. Like I just feel like
everything is figure outable, And I think that that has
helped me be pretty resilient in any situation.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, I mean a lot. Even though you at your
core haven't so much change at least from like the
way that I know you through these interviews, but your
life has certainly changed a lot since those ten years ago.
One of the things that you talked about on your
first episode was I felt very much when I was
reading the introduction to your book, like I was like, oh,
(03:44):
that's who I spoke to, because you were I remember
one of the things you were like, well, I'm ten
pounds heavier than I want to be, and it was
just indicative of like not really balancing and like working
around the clock and eating crap. And I wonder now,
like looking back at her, if she had this book,
do you think you would have done anything differently?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh? Absolutely, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I think that the person that I started with, Like
many people, when you're in your early twenties and you're
just getting started or even your mid twenties, depending on
where you are in life, you're still figuring out what
your purpose is because you've been told your whole life,
like all these steps that you need to take in
order to be successful. And you've told your whole life
(04:28):
all of these rules you need to follow to be successful,
get a good job, work really hard, like speak up,
share your ideas. You're told all of these things and
what you're supposed to do that's going to have a
successful outcome. And the reality is those rules and that
playbook was actually designed by people who they don't even
(04:51):
play by those rules. So I think the faster that
I accepted, wait, I can do whatever I want to do.
I have free will. Let me decide what makes me happy,
what my actual purpose than this life is, and let
me work towards having more of my time and energy
be aligned with my purpose.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
The more I was able to then.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Have a more balanced life, because I used to tell myself, like,
when you sign up to be an entrepreneur, you just
sign up to be broke for five to seven years,
basically because your first few years you're putting everything in
the business. Then maybe you make a little bit of money,
and then you're like investing all that money in all
these people that now you're responsible for, so your income
(05:33):
is incredibly unstable.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And then maybe maybe.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
You start to make enough income and revenue the business
that you can take a nice income. But for ninety
nine percent of businesses in America, like that is not
the narrative. That is like not true. Eighty percent of
small businesses in this country are solopreneurs. So how do
you accept that in the beginning stages that that rough
(05:59):
stock is actually potentially your norm.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's a little art.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, and you know what, I Sometimes I'm like, dang,
why didn't I start this when I was twenty two?
And when I say this, I wasn't even sure I
was starting what I want Brown Ambition to be and
what it's becoming. When I was twenty I started this
podcast for everything, how was I twenty six? And for
me it was just a fun passion project. And since
then starting my you know, leaving corporate and starting my
(06:29):
my coaching practice, and that was exciting, but I was
always coming back to Brown Ambition and it was always
ba for me. And so when my co host Tiffany
left at the end of last year, which was, you know,
such a blessing and such a beautiful sometimes it's like
it was a gift to get to say goodbye to
her in that way and have such a great like
(06:52):
parting of you know, creative partnership or whatever. I mean.
I was just at her house the other day, so
we still have our bond. But looking ahead, I'm like, oh,
I do feel like I'm starting now, because starting fresh,
I do feel like. Yet, I mean, I'm not a
I'm not a solopreneur in the sense that I'm not
making money like thankfully. The podcast has been profitable for
(07:15):
a few years now. But now there's the pressure of, like,
so how do I invest in the in the business
of it all. Before I'm just like taking little you know,
taking cuts, using it for bills and stuff. And now
I'm like, oh, pouring it back in and choosing what
to build. I feel like your book, by the way,
rewrite your rules, which just imagine it's sitting right here.
(07:36):
I don't have the physical copy. I will have it soon.
There it is, there, she is. I'll put it on
the screen. Don't worry. I know what publishers want being
on the screen with a link. Okay, But I do
feel like this book.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Is for me. This book is absolutely for you, someone
who already has a lot of successful things going on.
You've got a family, You've made a lot of choices.
You'd had a corporate nine to five, you chose to
different paths, and now you're at a crossroads.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
You can choose the stable thing.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And keep it going right, stick with the same network
that you're in, stick with the same type of content,
stick with the same stuff. Or you can take the
risky route, which has implications it might work out or
might put you behind where you are now not make
that decision. I mean, that is what this book is
(08:27):
designed to help people think through. It is like, how
do I make the decision?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
How do you make the decision? And I will say
what I was going to say earlier is being young,
being twenty two and launching without a family. The stakes
are so fucking high on Morgan, I got these two
little ruggrats. My birthday is so compile high. Yes, they're
right now, They're very high. And I am very I
am an entrepreneur. I've always sort of been entrepreneurial. I mean,
(08:54):
I started browd Ambition while I was working nine to five,
and I love being creative. My husband is very not
that and it's been it's been challenging, like for him
to meet this version of myself who's like all in
and I mean, so that's the challenge how it's impacting
our relationship. And then I love the freedom I have
(09:15):
to be a more present mom, but I do. I
do have to move more slowly than I would have
before I had these kids, and I have to accept
that at this stage. Whereas it's it is what it
is at the end of the day, you know, and
(09:35):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Think that you can minimize it, like it's still a
choice that you're making proactively. To say, one of the
things that's important for me and my family is a
stability for my family, and stability for my family is
going to be one of my priority pillars, which we
talk about in the book, right, and then from there
everything works around that.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, it was very different than the business. I would
have the choices and the ways that I think I
would have easily become, you know, taken the route you had,
you know, like where you sort of work yourself into
the ground. And at the same time, it's like be
grateful for that version of yourself because look what you built.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Oh I love her, Yeah, grateful for her.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I think that for anything to be at scale at
this type of momentum, it requires the ten thousand hours
that people talk about. I mean, it requires great It
requires hard work. The question is just when do you
get off the rat race, Like when have you done enough?
And when you let the momentum from the work that
you've put in and the investment that you've put in
then take you to a different direction. Because I think
(10:38):
a lot of people get stuck, like they get stuck
just going through the motions and there's diminishing returns of
their hard work, Like that is not a hard work alone,
is not the thing that makes people successful.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah. I love what you write about this trip to
Costa Rica and how that was like the beginning of
you just taking time for yourself. And I've seen that
you've posted about painting, and I want to hear about
soft life. Morgan. You left La, you went to Nashville.
You're in Nashville. Now you found your boo. Yeah, had
(11:11):
your baby. He's thriving. He's a full toddler. So you know,
God for us. Yeah, I got one of them too,
hop out here in these little streets, you know, I think.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, I took a thirty day sabbatical.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
You know, I went through a super tough time in
business where I felt like I was a wartime CEO,
where like I really was. It was do or guy, like,
either we make it through this or we're done. And
I really gave it. After having gone through a season
where I felt like we were super stable, I had
then had to like buckle back in and.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Work like work as hard as I possibly could. And
I did that for nine months.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
The business had one of its best quarters and I'd
ever had in the history of the business, and I said, perfect,
your girl is out.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I need to go.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
So I did a thirty day sabbatical in Costa Rica
with some of my girlfriends, Melissa from the Lip Bar
and Simone now Tyler formerly White, who was our head
of revenue for the media business at the time, and Afrotech,
and for thirty days we just did whatever we wanted
to do, like eat papayas, talked.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
At a fish man.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
We went to a restaurant one night and I was like, oh,
this fish is so good, you know, and Costa Rican
so many tropical places are like, oh, we just caught
it this.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Morning, and da da da da.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
I was like, okay, cool. Can I get on this boat? Then,
like I want to go catch a fish? And they
were like, yeah, we can get on this boat in
the morning. So we literally went on the fishermen's boat
in the morning, caught the fish. I get terribly seasick,
by the way, which I knew, but I was like
I'm going anyways, caught the fish, smoked a lot of
wheat on the boat because I was trying not to
(12:58):
be so sick. Do I help'd the fish? At night
and we had fresh ahi for dinner.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Damn.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
But like I wanted to just do stuff like stop
being so freaking responsible, stop overthinking everything. Stop if this
then that every single decision for thirty days, and it
just reset my ability to then have an abundance mindset
about well, what does the next phase in my life
look like now that I've made it through these different
things in the business, what else.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Do I want?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And outside of work? Because that's just not enough. It
wasn't enough for me.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, and how much of that also is having a
team to support you so that you can be free.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
It required a new team.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I mean I had to dream up a whole new
organizational chart, I had to dream up a whole new
personal team.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
So it required a lot of transformation. It required total transformation.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
And I think, you know, my hope with the book
is that it gives people the framework to identify where
they need those transformations in their personal life as well
as their professional life.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Do you feel as if, let me back up a
little bit, I sometimes as a mom, I'm so grateful,
you know, I talk about how you can list out
the ways that makes it more challenging to be ambitious
and to have a career in all of that and
to start a business. But at the same time, in
a time like this, I find so much I find
(14:23):
it meditative being a mom sometimes getting on the floor
building a lego, you know, being in tune with that.
How has your son changed your approach to business or
your tolerant your resilience for business, if at all, you.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Know, I think I was very much a yes, I
can do these things. Yes you want me to fly
to the city, Yes, I'll go from city to city
and like take out these meetings and do this stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I've always had a little bit of like boundary and know.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But I think when you have kids, it requires a
different way of your time, and I think certainly for
me that has been the case, particularly when they're really
you know, I think over time they're a little less
impacted by you being away for two, three four days.
Hopefully I'm hopeful for some freedom, but you know, we
(15:10):
leave the house for a night and he or two nights.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You know, I know he's not going to sleep well
that night because we're both gone.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
So I think for me, I've just had to be
more disciplined with how I'm saying, Like what is my focus,
What are my priorities, what are the I can only
do three things at all times. I can only be
prioritizing three things. Those three things can change, but right now,
three things and that's it, and everything has to pass
(15:38):
through those three things to make it out on the
other side. And that I think principle is something that
I've learned and lived by and I think having a
kid just basically reinforced that.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So now it's one of those things, you know, those
three principles that you're sort of filtering every those three values,
what are they if you don't mind sharing?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, So there's six pillars in the book that I
talk about, and at any point you're prioritizing three out
of these six.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
The six different.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Ones are wellness, stability, freedom, money, relationships, and passions.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Okay, so for me.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Right now, stability is important because family, two relationships, because
my relationship with my partner. I'm getting married in August.
We've got a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And then I think the last thing for me is freedom.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Like I am spending a lot of time making sure
that I'm doing things that I want to do that
I'm in control of. High I spend my time right
let's say you're a medical student. Freedom can't be one
of your priorities because you're stuck into a system, right,
But maybe it's passions. You're volunteering your time and you're
doing these with other people and that makes you feel good.
(17:02):
Or maybe it's relationships and you're going to church, building
a church community and building relationships with your peers and
your colleagues. Right at any different phase in your life,
you're gonna have different pillars and those are going to change.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And then what I think it.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Does is it also helps you accept that the other
pillars are not a priority.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
They're on maintenance, moll. So it's not that I.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Am eating cake and you know, putting a bunch of
sodium in my food every day because my wellness isn't
one of my priorities. But it does mean like I
was supposed to go to pilates this morning at six am,
and I just accepted that that was not going to happen,
and I was going to pay the cancelation fee, and
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Beat myself up about it.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
I had all intentions I do it, but my son
woke up early and I said, you know what, We're
just gonna hang out.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Then that's fine. Good morning, good.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Morning, good morning. I think one of your podcasts we
should mention the journey, which you I feel like you've
tried a couple of different kinds of podcasts, right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I've had work Smart, I have the journey, and we're
probably gonna transition the journey back to work Smart soon.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Oh really okay? And then I was on your blavity
head A podcast for a minute. I do feel like
you're not You're not afraid to test new things and
try new things business wise, I'm the queen.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I'm a queen of failure. I believe in testing everything
and failing as quickly as possible so that you can
decide what's working and what's not working. Because the more
shots I have at the at the goal, the more
likely I'm gonna hit the goal.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
MM.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So what has that looked for you? Look like for
you in terms of your business right now? Like, what
are you trying right now that you're not sure? Is
blavity Fest one of those tests you don't want test,
it's not really a test.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
So blavity Fest is at the end of ma A
at the in Atlanta. It's a mix of a conference
in a music festival, so we've got music in that
in the evening, Kirk Franklin two chains, variety of different artists.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
We've got a DJ battle with local Bank.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Went in two chains. The dichotomy is on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Okay, brun Okay to say, Atlanta, I.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Thought you said Kirk was opening.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Up for two chains. You know, Saturday is two chains.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Got it? We getting lit Saturday.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Park is all Sunday.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Oh yeh, that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
And we've got like really great speakers everything covering things
from you know, wealth, personal finance to wellness.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Speakers like Debbie Brown, Tiffany.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Of course, the but Denistas, so you all know Tiff,
so many incredible people and we've been doing that. We've
been in the events business for a decade, right, Like
Afrotech is huge. It's the second largest gathering of black
professionals in the country. As it's only the second largest
what's bigger, essence fastest? Oh, okay, fair enough, but damn huge.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, it's a lot. It's so much fun.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
It's it's fantastic and it's just a great place to
grow and invest in your to gown and get to
the next level whatever your goal is.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
There is something for you at Efortech.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Now for blavity Fest, we've had different iterations of a
blabvierty Fest. We had some at twenty one, which was
in form really called empower Her.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
If you were that.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Old, I have yes, you talked about that on an
early episode. I was like, oh damn, I forgot about.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Empower Her exactly. So your girl goes through iterations all
the time.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
So empower Her was two or three years and we
changed it to sum at twenty one, and then some
at twenty one did super well with consumers, but advertisers
weren't really investing in it.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So we picked.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I picked basically, I said, look, we only got so many,
so much time and effort, let's scale afrotech instead of
some at twenty one. But now we're back at a
place where Afrotech is super stable. And I do believe
that there is a world where people who are not
in tech still want to come together to connect. Network
creators want the skills the tools we able to get
(20:57):
to the next level. Artists, musical people, people in the
production space, people who are looking to publish their first book,
like there are a lot of information that I still
think being in person and having those social connect connections
helps people get to the next level, you know, and
events are a great way to do that.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
I didn't know how much I needed to be at
Afrotech until I was there. I mean, I went by
your invitation just because you know, at the time, I
was looking for any excuse to leave the house and
go work on my book and you know, and I
would just make a book trip out of any any
little break I could get. So I was like, oh, yeah,
I'll go to Houston, and what's there to do in Houston. Meanwhile,
(21:37):
I didn't write anything because I was just goingting done
during it. Yeah, it's just but there was work being done.
I didn't know how much I needed to be at
a table with other really, you know, unapologetically big idea
creators like and people who made me feel capable of
(21:58):
doing all I wanted to do. And the thing about
solopreneurship is it can be isolating, and especially being a
mom on top of that, like I don't really get
to connect with other other than like BA fam and
my family and my neighbors, not doing a lot of
connecting in person with peers, and so yeah, it was
(22:18):
just really I left there feeling extremely capable of doing
everything I wanted to do and saying it out loud
with Brown Ambition and turning it into like the media
juggernaut that I wanted to become. And yeah, I definitely
owe that to you and to Afrotech. So thank you
for thank you in advance, not in advance many belated
thank you for being You're right.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
I mean, I think that the power of your network
is one of the things that can propel you in
times when you're making those kinds of decisions like how
are we going to scale Brown ambition? What does broad
ambition three point out look like under Mandy's leadership?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
What does it look like?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
You have no one else to run things back besides
your own brain.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
And you want the right people. You want someone who
you can call up and be like, hey, I'm facing
this problem and they're not going to tell you, well,
why don't you just not do it? It seems hard? That
seems hard. And the number of people who I've told
me this week to just go take a nap and
why don't you take something off your plate, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no,
this is not here. This is not the time to
take things off the plate. I need a bigger plate,
(23:23):
that's what you mean, I need a bigger plate?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yes, well, I think that's like one of the challenges
with the self care narrative and like the soft life narrative,
Like I'm actually not like super pro soft life, like
I'm pro proactive care, Like I'm pro don't get to
a place where you feel like your plate is overflowing
with work.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah, but I'm not a like just do less like no,
like let me let me max out and still feel
good about it. Like how do you max out and
still get eight hours?
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Mmmm? It's like becoming a better optimizing optimization.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Like, I just believe that that is possible. I believe
that you can use tools like AI. I believe that
you can make different choices with how you spend your
money to invest in things that are going to give
you your time back. Like I believe that there is
a way for you to have it all eventually.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, you and Rachel Rogers next to each other. It's
like you ain't leaving that conversation without a nanny. It's
like a cleaning crew, a meal delivery, a chef. Like
you're going to invest in your.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Ste at GPT pro like, let's just start with TPT.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Pro like, okay, twenty bucks a month, who had it?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
No, I want the next one up the Yeah there's
another level.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Oh damn.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
But but the next level allows has an operator and
does all this stuff where you can do stuff for
you for you on your computer.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Okay, I want to I want you to take me
through your day. I want you to tell me, like,
do you have a certain routine, how are you balancing
and checking things? And also who are the people that
are checking in with you and supporting you throughout the day, Like.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, I mean my day.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
I mean I have to say I live in a
state of privilege right now. So I don't want anyone
to hear this and be like, girl, you're doing too much.
That it's important for people to understand at a certain
level how much help we all really have behind the scenes,
because I didn't realize this until it was far too late,
that people have things like house managers and nannies and
all pairs, and they're have live live in nanny's or
(25:36):
rotational nannies where someone is working twenty four to seven
for a week, they're off and then another nanny comes
while they're off.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
They have two full.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Time nannies, Like, I didn't know the game that people
were playing while everyone was telling us.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Just lean in, just lean in, just say yes. And
I'm like, ma'am, you didn't tell me what was going
on behind the scenes. It allowed you to lean in.
So that is my disclaim before I tell you my schedule.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Open that gate, baby, let's go.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Okay, So it starts actually the night before.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So the night before, my virtual assistant Beth sends me
my schedule for the next day with any notes, pre
meeting notes, anything that I need to know mentally so
that I can prep for the next day. So every
meeting that I have, I have two calendar invites. I
have the actual calendar invite, and then I have the
notes for that meeting with any context like who introduced
(26:26):
me to that person, what are we supposed to be
talking about? Maybe prereads like all that stuff. Okay, I
sleep for at least eight hours a night. I need
a full night sleep, kind of girly. I wake up
between five thirty and six fifteen. I would say, I
don't wake up with an alarm. I kind of just
wake up based off of what my body needs. But
(26:46):
it's just pretty consistent. I wake up with the sun,
which is hard to do in the winter.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
But you get about it.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Like nine, I go to.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Sleep between nine nine and ten. I'm sorry, yep, I
am not a night out. I'm a morning person, so
I'm highly productive in the morning. So I wake up
and typically I sit in bed and like get some
work done while i'm everything is still nice and warm.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Course from there. My routine has changed now that I
have a son. Previously we would get up and go
to the gym. That does not happen. Now we get
up and we wait for him to wake up, wait
for him to wake up. Then's breakfast, So him and
I breakfast together, and usually I'm listening to some sort
of news CNBC typically just trying to make sure or
(27:35):
the New York Times Daily from the day before typically, so.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Some sort of info there up before the Daily comes out,
I believe.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So I don't know actually know what time the Daily
gets out, but it's.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Like six am.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Yeah yeah, so maybe maybe actually I could listen to
the to the current one, but I'm usually be behind.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I skip the depressing ones. I'm like, I don't want
to spend thirty minutes thinking about the state of the Union.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Sorry, no, that's the one I want to hear, because
I'm sure as hell was not able to form. Like
I'm married the first thirty minutes of pompous circumstances that
I'm out, I'm gonna go watch Paradise.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
So then just finish that.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
So good.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
So then after the nanny arrives at around eight, not
around at eight. And we also have an ad pair,
So the odd pair now is up and online and
with him at seven, so basically between like I'm sitting
and eating with him, but she's still around in case
I need to, you know, have my.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Attention doing something else.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
And nanny.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Have an AF pair and a nanny Now all.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Pair is great? Why? Why? Why both? What is that?
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Because I travel so much now so his first year
of life I didn't travel or he came with me
because I was breastfeeding. Now that he's not attached to
the boob, mama is al okay, but overnight.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Or who's gonna watch him overnight?
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Like all pair can only work ten hours a day,
which she doesn't. She works like six or seven hours
a day, and nanny could not work twenty four hours
straight like that would.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Be a lot.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Gotcha. So the nanny's rolling in to kind of pick up.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Mm hmm, well vice versa.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
The pair the nanny's a primary, the all pair is
actually the gap closer.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Oh really okay.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, because his language development, he's he's a talker, so
he needs someone who speaks really good English during the day.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Oh okay, So where's the ope. Where'd you get your
pair from?
Speaker 2 (29:32):
She's from Brazil?
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Nice?
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Yeah, I have I have friends. I have a friend
who has who has been has had a great experience
with all pairs.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
She's great.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
If I had the space, I totally have one. Because
they got to have their own Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
They have their own room.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
If you do it through like a reputable surface, which we.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, it's kindly regulated actually.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
As it yeah, as it should be to protect them,
it should be.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I'm like, oh yeah, check my background. But no, it's
I mean, it's it's great. Like he gets basically a
big sister playmate. And in those days where Josh and
I are both out of town, we have a stable
care system where the nanny's not being overworked and he's
able to have two people that he trusts with.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah. Okay, alrighty, So the Nanny's arriving, and where.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Danny's arriving, Mama's out, I'm out. So that's basically eight am.
I'm working Okay, so eight am or that would be
when I would go to the gym or plates. So
assume a day I'm not working out, then I'm doing
If it's day that I'm not working out, we would
go for a walk too if it's warm, so that
(30:40):
would be my little workout for the day.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
But yeah, I'm in the office. I'm out here in my.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Studio going through typically the like prepping again for meetings,
doing any prereads again that I didn't do the night before,
and then just getting to it.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Like depending on the day.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I see my days and I talk about this in
the book, but instead of context switching between all of
the businesses that I have throughout the day, Like Tuesdays
are Afrotech, so I meet with everybody on the afro
Tech team. I have the Afrotech sales team meeting. I'm
like reviewing all the Afrotech things. Mondays and Wednesdays are
Blavity Fest and Blabvity Media Group, so I meet with
(31:18):
the teams that way. Thursday and Friday are external. It's
like today we're recording this. It is an external conversation.
So I have five or six external meetings today, So
depending on the day, I kind of know what's going
to happen. And then I'm done with meetings by four
thirty five. And I what you're eating during the day, Oh,
(31:39):
I simple food, yes, early? Yeah, Lunch is usually like
tuna salad or egg salad.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
And do you cook or do you have like a cook?
Speaker 3 (31:50):
I don't have a cook right now, but I've had
seasons where I've had cooks and chefs.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
So again, like I very much believe that my village
should be reflection on whatever season I'm in and when
I need. So there's been times where I had a
house manager and a chef, right, Langston, those two roles
now are his, Okay, so get her. I used to
have my call my house manager an adult nanny. She
(32:16):
would make sure I was taken care of.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Yeah, oh I fucking love an adult nanny. I need
my wife. I like a stereotypical sometimes.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Choose everything you know.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And then when when Langston was a super duper baby
and like really really sleeping a lot, then his nanny
was also a bit of an assistant and house manager
because he was sleep half the time she was here.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Now he's up and about.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
He needs full time attention, right So I'm always reevaluating
what makes sense based off of the priority pillars that
I have, and then also what's going to allow me
to have the time and freedom to be able to
get to the next level of what I'm trying to do.
So right now, my focus is ensuring that I'm reaching
as many people as possible with these principles and frameworks
(32:57):
and methods and tools in the book. Second is to
make sure that the media business, which is the toughest
business to run in this type of economy, is stable
and slightly growing. I will settle for slightly growing in
this economy as long as we beat the market, I'm happy, okay.
And then my third priority is just like re establishing
(33:20):
and having time to envision what a new life looks
like for me now that I am a mother and
I am soon to be a wife and all of
these different things those require a new vision for my futures.
I'm just making more time for me to be quiet
and to think and to dream what the next five
ten years.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Looks like for me, Okay, can we peek through that
window for a second? Yeah, what do you think? What
do you see when you look at the next five
ten years.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Well, I you know, I'm eleven years in as the
CEO of Lavity. I think at some point I will
continue to work with my team for there to be
new leaders who take on the operating role. I will
always have an owner role, but there's a difference between
an owner operator and just an owner or an operator.
(34:06):
So I look forward to transitioning, I think, into being
more of an owner and less of a day to
day operator. I think the second thing is, you know,
I'm really enjoying working with small businesses, and I really
enjoy helping entrepreneurs who are already doing well get to
the next level, like whether that's raised their first round
of funding, whether that's think about their own exit. You know,
(34:28):
I've bought three businesses in the last ten years, so
I know what it's like to go through an exit
and to be on the other side of integrating.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
I don't think I want to be a.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Venture capitalist, but I do believe in like being a
good capitalist. In other words, maybe raising a fund and
investing in small businesses and helping middle market companies get
to the next level. So I think there's a lot
of different ways that I can take it. You know,
with more time, it will the opportunities will reveal themselves.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
I think that that's yeah, excited for what comes next.
I also, you know, having been on the journey, like
just as a as a yeah, from the outside looking in,
it's been. It's fun. It's you're like a character in
a story that I mean, I know.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
That you're a human beings.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, And I just think it's it's really Yeah. I
think it's a privilege to get to follow you on
that journey and like and every once in a while
check in, see what's happening, what's this new iteration of Morgan? Like,
and I just wish you so much luck with the
book and I hope it is as huge as it
deserves to be. I will be giving a copy to
(35:39):
multiple solopreneur friends of mine who I feel like need it.
And yeah, just let me know what Morgan coaching program
I can sign up for.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
You can sign up for work Smart. We meet monthly.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We have so much fun and we usually have about
one hundred and fety people on the call.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We talk about whatever's going on in the world and
I just have people work through it.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Amazing. All right, Morgan, y'all go check out her book,
get pre order it now. I'm putting the link in
the show notes. And do you have a book website.
I'm sure you do. Rewrite your rules dot com.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Rules dot com. There we go.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
All right, that's how you know she was talking to Tiffany.
Everyone's got that book website.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
I think you need the tenth step plan and I
shall follow it.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
I mean it, it works, it works, all right, va fan.
Thanks for tuning in, Morgan, thank you so much for
joining me Brown Ambition.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Mandy, thanks for having me. See y'all later. Bye,
Hey, BA, fam. I don't even know if I need
to introduce this week's guest to you, but Morgan Debon,
the CEO of Blavity, is in the house. Morgan, how
many times you been on BA do you know?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
At least two or three times?
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Maybe your fourth time?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Really?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Wow, I had forgotten how early in the game you
had come on, And I just thank you for that,
because when you're starting a podcast, I mean it's different now,
but yeah, we started this ten years ago and for
you to say yes at the time, it felt huge
for you to say yes to my invitation to come on.
And I actually went back and I listened to don't
(00:42):
make that face, because you know what, I realized, you're
just the same.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Like I am the same, You just sound the same.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Your vibe is the same for change, yeah, and I
part of me is I just was like really impressed
by that. I can't say the same for myself. I
listened back to my in early VA days and I'm like, oh,
baby girl, but how does that make you feel to
hear that? Like what do you?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I think I am pretty much.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
I've always lived by like a center of principles and
I always feel pretty comfortable with who I am. I
think the times in my life where I've been the
most unhappy, it's because I let other people influence me
too much.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
But like when I'm just me, then everything is much easier.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Yeah, I think, and being around people like you, I
mean people like you, not to make you feel like
I'm putting you under a microscope, but I feel calm
with in your presence, and I'm someone who's like you know,
I maybe it's like a little bit I undiagnosed ADHD
and just like in general enthusiasm, but I am an introvert,
(01:47):
but I am excitable, and I am emotional and raw,
and that's just who I am. And so I feel
like you are like the duck, calm on the surface,
but your little feetbe kicking a.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Lot going on behind me scenes.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
That's right, Yeah, but that seems to be like a
core of who you are. Where did that come from?
Like that inner sense of calm and self love. I
definitely did not grow up with a deep sense of
like comfort with myself and all of that, And I
just wonder if you could talk a bit about that.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
You know, I think that being grounded today is because
I feel like I have made a lot of a
sequence of choices and a series of choices that were mine.
And so when there are situations that are not great,
when my life isn't going according to plan, when we
overspend on a budget or a relationship doesn't work out,
(02:40):
I feel like, at a minimum, I still had control
over the path that I chose, And I think that
gives me a sense of calm and ground like being grounded.
And I think for anybody who feels like wants to
feel that's kind of like you're never too high and
are never too low.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Amazing things happen. Close a huge deal at.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Blavity, or you know, my partner Josh closed a huge
deal for his business because he's awesome an entrepreneur. We
go out, we celebrate. If something bad happens, we go
out and we manage it. Like I just feel like
everything is figure outable, And I think that that has
helped me be pretty resilient in any situation.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, I mean a lot. Even though you at your
core haven't so much change at least from like the
way that I know you through these interviews, but your
life has certainly changed a lot since those ten years ago.
One of the things that you talked about on your
first episode was I felt very much when I was
reading the introduction to your book, like I was like, oh,
(03:44):
that's who I spoke to, because you were I remember
one of the things you were like, well, I'm ten
pounds heavier than I want to be, and it was
just indicative of like not really balancing and like working
around the clock and eating crap. And I wonder now,
like looking back at her, if she had this book,
do you think you would have done anything differently?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh? Absolutely, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I think that the person that I started with, Like
many people, when you're in your early twenties and you're
just getting started or even your mid twenties, depending on
where you are in life, you're still figuring out what
your purpose is because you've been told your whole life,
like all these steps that you need to take in
order to be successful. And you've told your whole life
(04:28):
all of these rules you need to follow to be successful,
get a good job, work really hard, like speak up,
share your ideas. You're told all of these things and
what you're supposed to do that's going to have a
successful outcome. And the reality is those rules and that
playbook was actually designed by people who they don't even
(04:51):
play by those rules. So I think the faster that
I accepted, wait, I can do whatever I want to do.
I have free will. Let me decide what makes me happy,
what my actual purpose than this life is, and let
me work towards having more of my time and energy
be aligned with my purpose.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
The more I was able to then.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Have a more balanced life, because I used to tell myself, like,
when you sign up to be an entrepreneur, you just
sign up to be broke for five to seven years,
basically because your first few years you're putting everything in
the business. Then maybe you make a little bit of money,
and then you're like investing all that money in all
these people that now you're responsible for, so your income
(05:33):
is incredibly unstable.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And then maybe maybe.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
You start to make enough income and revenue the business
that you can take a nice income. But for ninety
nine percent of businesses in America, like that is not
the narrative. That is like not true. Eighty percent of
small businesses in this country are solopreneurs. So how do
you accept that in the beginning stages that that rough
(05:59):
stock is actually potentially your norm.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's a little art.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, and you know what, I Sometimes I'm like, dang,
why didn't I start this when I was twenty two?
And when I say this, I wasn't even sure I
was starting what I want Brown Ambition to be and
what it's becoming. When I was twenty I started this
podcast for everything, how was I twenty six? And for
me it was just a fun passion project. And since
then starting my you know, leaving corporate and starting my
(06:29):
my coaching practice, and that was exciting, but I was
always coming back to Brown Ambition and it was always
ba for me. And so when my co host Tiffany
left at the end of last year, which was, you know,
such a blessing and such a beautiful sometimes it's like
it was a gift to get to say goodbye to
her in that way and have such a great like
(06:52):
parting of you know, creative partnership or whatever. I mean.
I was just at her house the other day, so
we still have our bond. But looking ahead, I'm like, oh,
I do feel like I'm starting now, because starting fresh,
I do feel like. Yet, I mean, I'm not a
I'm not a solopreneur in the sense that I'm not
making money like thankfully. The podcast has been profitable for
(07:15):
a few years now. But now there's the pressure of, like,
so how do I invest in the in the business
of it all. Before I'm just like taking little you know,
taking cuts, using it for bills and stuff. And now
I'm like, oh, pouring it back in and choosing what
to build. I feel like your book, by the way,
rewrite your rules, which just imagine it's sitting right here.
(07:36):
I don't have the physical copy. I will have it soon.
There it is, there, she is. I'll put it on
the screen. Don't worry. I know what publishers want being
on the screen with a link. Okay, But I do
feel like this book.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Is for me. This book is absolutely for you, someone
who already has a lot of successful things going on.
You've got a family, You've made a lot of choices.
You'd had a corporate nine to five, you chose to
different paths, and now you're at a crossroads.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
You can choose the stable thing.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And keep it going right, stick with the same network
that you're in, stick with the same type of content,
stick with the same stuff. Or you can take the
risky route, which has implications it might work out or
might put you behind where you are now not make
that decision. I mean, that is what this book is
(08:27):
designed to help people think through. It is like, how
do I make the decision?
Speaker 1 (08:31):
How do you make the decision? And I will say
what I was going to say earlier is being young,
being twenty two and launching without a family. The stakes
are so fucking high on Morgan, I got these two
little ruggrats. My birthday is so compile high. Yes, they're
right now, They're very high. And I am very I
am an entrepreneur. I've always sort of been entrepreneurial. I mean,
(08:54):
I started browd Ambition while I was working nine to five,
and I love being creative. My husband is very not
that and it's been it's been challenging, like for him
to meet this version of myself who's like all in
and I mean, so that's the challenge how it's impacting
our relationship. And then I love the freedom I have
(09:15):
to be a more present mom, but I do. I
do have to move more slowly than I would have
before I had these kids, and I have to accept
that at this stage. Whereas it's it is what it
is at the end of the day, you know, and
(09:35):
I don't.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Think that you can minimize it, like it's still a
choice that you're making proactively. To say, one of the
things that's important for me and my family is a
stability for my family, and stability for my family is
going to be one of my priority pillars, which we
talk about in the book, right, and then from there
everything works around that.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah, it was very different than the business. I would
have the choices and the ways that I think I
would have easily become, you know, taken the route you had,
you know, like where you sort of work yourself into
the ground. And at the same time, it's like be
grateful for that version of yourself because look what you built.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Oh I love her, Yeah, grateful for her.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I think that for anything to be at scale at
this type of momentum, it requires the ten thousand hours
that people talk about. I mean, it requires great It
requires hard work. The question is just when do you
get off the rat race, Like when have you done enough?
And when you let the momentum from the work that
you've put in and the investment that you've put in
then take you to a different direction. Because I think
(10:38):
a lot of people get stuck, like they get stuck
just going through the motions and there's diminishing returns of
their hard work, Like that is not a hard work alone,
is not the thing that makes people successful.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah. I love what you write about this trip to
Costa Rica and how that was like the beginning of
you just taking time for yourself. And I've seen that
you've posted about painting, and I want to hear about
soft life. Morgan. You left La, you went to Nashville.
You're in Nashville. Now you found your boo. Yeah, had
(11:11):
your baby. He's thriving. He's a full toddler. So you know,
God for us. Yeah, I got one of them too,
hop out here in these little streets, you know, I think.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, I took a thirty day sabbatical.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
You know, I went through a super tough time in
business where I felt like I was a wartime CEO,
where like I really was. It was do or guy, like,
either we make it through this or we're done. And
I really gave it. After having gone through a season
where I felt like we were super stable, I had
then had to like buckle back in and.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Work like work as hard as I possibly could. And
I did that for nine months.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
The business had one of its best quarters and I'd
ever had in the history of the business, and I said, perfect,
your girl is out.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I need to go.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
So I did a thirty day sabbatical in Costa Rica
with some of my girlfriends, Melissa from the Lip Bar
and Simone now Tyler formerly White, who was our head
of revenue for the media business at the time, and Afrotech,
and for thirty days we just did whatever we wanted
to do, like eat papayas, talked.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
At a fish man.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
We went to a restaurant one night and I was like, oh,
this fish is so good, you know, and Costa Rican
so many tropical places are like, oh, we just caught
it this.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Morning, and da da da da.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
I was like, okay, cool. Can I get on this boat? Then,
like I want to go catch a fish? And they
were like, yeah, we can get on this boat in
the morning. So we literally went on the fishermen's boat
in the morning, caught the fish. I get terribly seasick,
by the way, which I knew, but I was like
I'm going anyways, caught the fish, smoked a lot of
wheat on the boat because I was trying not to
(12:58):
be so sick. Do I help'd the fish? At night
and we had fresh ahi for dinner.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Damn.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
But like I wanted to just do stuff like stop
being so freaking responsible, stop overthinking everything. Stop if this
then that every single decision for thirty days, and it
just reset my ability to then have an abundance mindset
about well, what does the next phase in my life
look like now that I've made it through these different
things in the business, what else.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Do I want?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And outside of work? Because that's just not enough. It
wasn't enough for me.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, and how much of that also is having a
team to support you so that you can be free.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
It required a new team.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I mean I had to dream up a whole new
organizational chart, I had to dream up a whole new
personal team.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
So it required a lot of transformation. It required total transformation.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
And I think, you know, my hope with the book
is that it gives people the framework to identify where
they need those transformations in their personal life as well
as their professional life.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Do you feel as if, let me back up a
little bit, I sometimes as a mom, I'm so grateful,
you know, I talk about how you can list out
the ways that makes it more challenging to be ambitious
and to have a career in all of that and
to start a business. But at the same time, in
a time like this, I find so much I find
(14:23):
it meditative being a mom sometimes getting on the floor
building a lego, you know, being in tune with that.
How has your son changed your approach to business or
your tolerant your resilience for business, if at all, you.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Know, I think I was very much a yes, I
can do these things. Yes you want me to fly
to the city, Yes, I'll go from city to city
and like take out these meetings and do this stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I've always had a little bit of like boundary and know.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But I think when you have kids, it requires a
different way of your time, and I think certainly for
me that has been the case, particularly when they're really
you know, I think over time they're a little less
impacted by you being away for two, three four days.
Hopefully I'm hopeful for some freedom, but you know, we
(15:10):
leave the house for a night and he or two nights.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You know, I know he's not going to sleep well
that night because we're both gone.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
So I think for me, I've just had to be
more disciplined with how I'm saying, Like what is my focus,
What are my priorities, what are the I can only
do three things at all times. I can only be
prioritizing three things. Those three things can change, but right now,
three things and that's it, and everything has to pass
(15:38):
through those three things to make it out on the
other side. And that I think principle is something that
I've learned and lived by and I think having a
kid just basically reinforced that.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So now it's one of those things, you know, those
three principles that you're sort of filtering every those three values,
what are they if you don't mind sharing?
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, So there's six pillars in the book that I
talk about, and at any point you're prioritizing three out
of these six.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
The six different.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Ones are wellness, stability, freedom, money, relationships, and passions.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Okay, so for me.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Right now, stability is important because family, two relationships, because
my relationship with my partner. I'm getting married in August.
We've got a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And then I think the last thing for me is freedom.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Like I am spending a lot of time making sure
that I'm doing things that I want to do that
I'm in control of. High I spend my time right
let's say you're a medical student. Freedom can't be one
of your priorities because you're stuck into a system, right,
But maybe it's passions. You're volunteering your time and you're
doing these with other people and that makes you feel good.
(17:02):
Or maybe it's relationships and you're going to church, building
a church community and building relationships with your peers and
your colleagues. Right at any different phase in your life,
you're gonna have different pillars and those are going to change.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And then what I think it.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Does is it also helps you accept that the other
pillars are not a priority.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
They're on maintenance, moll. So it's not that I.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Am eating cake and you know, putting a bunch of
sodium in my food every day because my wellness isn't
one of my priorities. But it does mean like I
was supposed to go to pilates this morning at six am,
and I just accepted that that was not going to happen,
and I was going to pay the cancelation fee, and
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Beat myself up about it.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
I had all intentions I do it, but my son
woke up early and I said, you know what, We're
just gonna hang out.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Then that's fine. Good morning, good.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Morning, good morning. I think one of your podcasts we
should mention the journey, which you I feel like you've
tried a couple of different kinds of podcasts, right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I've had work Smart, I have the journey, and we're
probably gonna transition the journey back to work Smart soon.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Oh really okay? And then I was on your blavity
head A podcast for a minute. I do feel like
you're not You're not afraid to test new things and
try new things business wise, I'm the queen.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I'm a queen of failure. I believe in testing everything
and failing as quickly as possible so that you can
decide what's working and what's not working. Because the more
shots I have at the at the goal, the more
likely I'm gonna hit the goal.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
MM.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
So what has that looked for you? Look like for
you in terms of your business right now? Like, what
are you trying right now that you're not sure? Is
blavity Fest one of those tests you don't want test,
it's not really a test.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
So blavity Fest is at the end of ma A
at the in Atlanta. It's a mix of a conference
in a music festival, so we've got music in that
in the evening, Kirk Franklin two chains, variety of different artists.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
We've got a DJ battle with local Bank.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Went in two chains. The dichotomy is on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Okay, brun Okay to say, Atlanta, I.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Thought you said Kirk was opening.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Up for two chains. You know, Saturday is two chains.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Got it? We getting lit Saturday.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Park is all Sunday.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Oh yeh, that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
And we've got like really great speakers everything covering things
from you know, wealth, personal finance to wellness.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Speakers like Debbie Brown, Tiffany.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Of course, the but Denistas, so you all know Tiff,
so many incredible people and we've been doing that. We've
been in the events business for a decade, right, Like
Afrotech is huge. It's the second largest gathering of black
professionals in the country. As it's only the second largest
what's bigger, essence fastest? Oh, okay, fair enough, but damn huge.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Yeah, it's a lot. It's so much fun.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
It's it's fantastic and it's just a great place to
grow and invest in your to gown and get to
the next level whatever your goal is.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
There is something for you at Efortech.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Now for blavity Fest, we've had different iterations of a
blabvierty Fest. We had some at twenty one, which was
in form really called empower Her.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
If you were that.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Old, I have yes, you talked about that on an
early episode. I was like, oh damn, I forgot about.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Empower Her exactly. So your girl goes through iterations all
the time.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
So empower Her was two or three years and we
changed it to sum at twenty one, and then some
at twenty one did super well with consumers, but advertisers
weren't really investing in it.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So we picked.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I picked basically, I said, look, we only got so many,
so much time and effort, let's scale afrotech instead of
some at twenty one. But now we're back at a
place where Afrotech is super stable. And I do believe
that there is a world where people who are not
in tech still want to come together to connect. Network
creators want the skills the tools we able to get
(20:57):
to the next level. Artists, musical people, people in the
production space, people who are looking to publish their first book,
like there are a lot of information that I still
think being in person and having those social connect connections
helps people get to the next level, you know, and
events are a great way to do that.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
I didn't know how much I needed to be at
Afrotech until I was there. I mean, I went by
your invitation just because you know, at the time, I
was looking for any excuse to leave the house and
go work on my book and you know, and I
would just make a book trip out of any any
little break I could get. So I was like, oh, yeah,
I'll go to Houston, and what's there to do in Houston. Meanwhile,
(21:37):
I didn't write anything because I was just goingting done
during it. Yeah, it's just but there was work being done.
I didn't know how much I needed to be at
a table with other really, you know, unapologetically big idea
creators like and people who made me feel capable of
(21:58):
doing all I wanted to do. And the thing about
solopreneurship is it can be isolating, and especially being a
mom on top of that, like I don't really get
to connect with other other than like BA fam and
my family and my neighbors, not doing a lot of
connecting in person with peers, and so yeah, it was
(22:18):
just really I left there feeling extremely capable of doing
everything I wanted to do and saying it out loud
with Brown Ambition and turning it into like the media
juggernaut that I wanted to become. And yeah, I definitely
owe that to you and to Afrotech. So thank you
for thank you in advance, not in advance many belated
thank you for being You're right.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
I mean, I think that the power of your network
is one of the things that can propel you in
times when you're making those kinds of decisions like how
are we going to scale Brown ambition? What does broad
ambition three point out look like under Mandy's leadership?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
What does it look like?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
You have no one else to run things back besides
your own brain.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
And you want the right people. You want someone who
you can call up and be like, hey, I'm facing
this problem and they're not going to tell you, well,
why don't you just not do it? It seems hard? That
seems hard. And the number of people who I've told
me this week to just go take a nap and
why don't you take something off your plate, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no,
this is not here. This is not the time to
take things off the plate. I need a bigger plate,
(23:23):
that's what you mean, I need a bigger plate?
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Yes, well, I think that's like one of the challenges
with the self care narrative and like the soft life narrative,
Like I'm actually not like super pro soft life, like
I'm pro proactive care, Like I'm pro don't get to
a place where you feel like your plate is overflowing
with work.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah, but I'm not a like just do less like no,
like let me let me max out and still feel
good about it. Like how do you max out and
still get eight hours?
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Mmmm? It's like becoming a better optimizing optimization.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Like, I just believe that that is possible. I believe
that you can use tools like AI. I believe that
you can make different choices with how you spend your
money to invest in things that are going to give
you your time back. Like I believe that there is
a way for you to have it all eventually.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, you and Rachel Rogers next to each other. It's
like you ain't leaving that conversation without a nanny. It's
like a cleaning crew, a meal delivery, a chef. Like
you're going to invest in your.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Ste at GPT pro like, let's just start with TPT.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Pro like, okay, twenty bucks a month, who had it?
Speaker 2 (24:43):
No, I want the next one up the Yeah there's
another level.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Oh damn.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
But but the next level allows has an operator and
does all this stuff where you can do stuff for
you for you on your computer.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Okay, I want to I want you to take me
through your day. I want you to tell me, like,
do you have a certain routine, how are you balancing
and checking things? And also who are the people that
are checking in with you and supporting you throughout the day, Like.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, I mean my day.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
I mean I have to say I live in a
state of privilege right now. So I don't want anyone
to hear this and be like, girl, you're doing too much.
That it's important for people to understand at a certain
level how much help we all really have behind the scenes,
because I didn't realize this until it was far too late,
that people have things like house managers and nannies and
all pairs, and they're have live live in nanny's or
(25:36):
rotational nannies where someone is working twenty four to seven
for a week, they're off and then another nanny comes
while they're off.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
They have two full.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Time nannies, Like, I didn't know the game that people
were playing while everyone was telling us.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Just lean in, just lean in, just say yes. And
I'm like, ma'am, you didn't tell me what was going
on behind the scenes. It allowed you to lean in.
So that is my disclaim before I tell you my schedule.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Open that gate, baby, let's go.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Okay, So it starts actually the night before.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So the night before, my virtual assistant Beth sends me
my schedule for the next day with any notes, pre
meeting notes, anything that I need to know mentally so
that I can prep for the next day. So every
meeting that I have, I have two calendar invites. I
have the actual calendar invite, and then I have the
notes for that meeting with any context like who introduced
(26:26):
me to that person, what are we supposed to be
talking about? Maybe prereads like all that stuff. Okay, I
sleep for at least eight hours a night. I need
a full night sleep, kind of girly. I wake up
between five thirty and six fifteen. I would say, I
don't wake up with an alarm. I kind of just
wake up based off of what my body needs. But
(26:46):
it's just pretty consistent. I wake up with the sun,
which is hard to do in the winter.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
But you get about it.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Like nine, I go to.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Sleep between nine nine and ten. I'm sorry, yep, I
am not a night out. I'm a morning person, so
I'm highly productive in the morning. So I wake up
and typically I sit in bed and like get some
work done while i'm everything is still nice and warm.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Course from there. My routine has changed now that I
have a son. Previously we would get up and go
to the gym. That does not happen. Now we get
up and we wait for him to wake up, wait
for him to wake up. Then's breakfast, So him and
I breakfast together, and usually I'm listening to some sort
of news CNBC typically just trying to make sure or
(27:35):
the New York Times Daily from the day before typically, so.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Some sort of info there up before the Daily comes out,
I believe.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So I don't know actually know what time the Daily
gets out, but it's.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
Like six am.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Yeah yeah, so maybe maybe actually I could listen to
the to the current one, but I'm usually be behind.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I skip the depressing ones. I'm like, I don't want
to spend thirty minutes thinking about the state of the Union.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Sorry, no, that's the one I want to hear, because
I'm sure as hell was not able to form. Like
I'm married the first thirty minutes of pompous circumstances that
I'm out, I'm gonna go watch Paradise.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
So then just finish that.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
So good.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
So then after the nanny arrives at around eight, not
around at eight. And we also have an ad pair,
So the odd pair now is up and online and
with him at seven, so basically between like I'm sitting
and eating with him, but she's still around in case
I need to, you know, have my.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Attention doing something else.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
And nanny.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Have an AF pair and a nanny Now all.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Pair is great? Why? Why? Why both? What is that?
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Because I travel so much now so his first year
of life I didn't travel or he came with me
because I was breastfeeding. Now that he's not attached to
the boob, mama is al okay, but overnight.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Or who's gonna watch him overnight?
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Like all pair can only work ten hours a day,
which she doesn't. She works like six or seven hours
a day, and nanny could not work twenty four hours
straight like that would.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Be a lot.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Gotcha. So the nanny's rolling in to kind of pick up.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Mm hmm, well vice versa.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
The pair the nanny's a primary, the all pair is
actually the gap closer.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Oh really okay.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Yeah, because his language development, he's he's a talker, so
he needs someone who speaks really good English during the day.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Oh okay, So where's the ope. Where'd you get your
pair from?
Speaker 2 (29:32):
She's from Brazil?
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Nice?
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Yeah, I have I have friends. I have a friend
who has who has been has had a great experience
with all pairs.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
She's great.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
If I had the space, I totally have one. Because
they got to have their own Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
They have their own room.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
If you do it through like a reputable surface, which we.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, it's kindly regulated actually.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
As it yeah, as it should be to protect them,
it should be.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
I'm like, oh yeah, check my background. But no, it's
I mean, it's it's great. Like he gets basically a
big sister playmate. And in those days where Josh and
I are both out of town, we have a stable
care system where the nanny's not being overworked and he's
able to have two people that he trusts with.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah. Okay, alrighty, So the Nanny's arriving, and where.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Danny's arriving, Mama's out, I'm out. So that's basically eight am.
I'm working Okay, so eight am or that would be
when I would go to the gym or plates. So
assume a day I'm not working out, then I'm doing
If it's day that I'm not working out, we would
go for a walk too if it's warm, so that
(30:40):
would be my little workout for the day.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
But yeah, I'm in the office. I'm out here in my.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Studio going through typically the like prepping again for meetings,
doing any prereads again that I didn't do the night before,
and then just getting to it.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Like depending on the day.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I see my days and I talk about this in
the book, but instead of context switching between all of
the businesses that I have throughout the day, Like Tuesdays
are Afrotech, so I meet with everybody on the afro
Tech team. I have the Afrotech sales team meeting. I'm
like reviewing all the Afrotech things. Mondays and Wednesdays are
Blavity Fest and Blabvity Media Group, so I meet with
(31:18):
the teams that way. Thursday and Friday are external. It's
like today we're recording this. It is an external conversation.
So I have five or six external meetings today, So
depending on the day, I kind of know what's going
to happen. And then I'm done with meetings by four
thirty five. And I what you're eating during the day, Oh,
(31:39):
I simple food, yes, early? Yeah, Lunch is usually like
tuna salad or egg salad.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
And do you cook or do you have like a cook?
Speaker 3 (31:50):
I don't have a cook right now, but I've had
seasons where I've had cooks and chefs.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
So again, like I very much believe that my village
should be reflection on whatever season I'm in and when
I need. So there's been times where I had a
house manager and a chef, right, Langston, those two roles
now are his, Okay, so get her. I used to
have my call my house manager an adult nanny. She
(32:16):
would make sure I was taken care of.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Yeah, oh I fucking love an adult nanny. I need
my wife. I like a stereotypical sometimes.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Choose everything you know.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And then when when Langston was a super duper baby
and like really really sleeping a lot, then his nanny
was also a bit of an assistant and house manager
because he was sleep half the time she was here.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Now he's up and about.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
He needs full time attention, right So I'm always reevaluating
what makes sense based off of the priority pillars that
I have, and then also what's going to allow me
to have the time and freedom to be able to
get to the next level of what I'm trying to do.
So right now, my focus is ensuring that I'm reaching
as many people as possible with these principles and frameworks
(32:57):
and methods and tools in the book. Second is to
make sure that the media business, which is the toughest
business to run in this type of economy, is stable
and slightly growing. I will settle for slightly growing in
this economy as long as we beat the market, I'm happy, okay.
And then my third priority is just like re establishing
(33:20):
and having time to envision what a new life looks
like for me now that I am a mother and
I am soon to be a wife and all of
these different things those require a new vision for my futures.
I'm just making more time for me to be quiet
and to think and to dream what the next five
ten years.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Looks like for me, Okay, can we peek through that
window for a second? Yeah, what do you think? What
do you see when you look at the next five
ten years.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
Well, I you know, I'm eleven years in as the
CEO of Lavity. I think at some point I will
continue to work with my team for there to be
new leaders who take on the operating role. I will
always have an owner role, but there's a difference between
an owner operator and just an owner or an operator.
(34:06):
So I look forward to transitioning, I think, into being
more of an owner and less of a day to
day operator. I think the second thing is, you know,
I'm really enjoying working with small businesses, and I really
enjoy helping entrepreneurs who are already doing well get to
the next level, like whether that's raised their first round
of funding, whether that's think about their own exit. You know,
(34:28):
I've bought three businesses in the last ten years, so
I know what it's like to go through an exit
and to be on the other side of integrating.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
I don't think I want to be a.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Venture capitalist, but I do believe in like being a
good capitalist. In other words, maybe raising a fund and
investing in small businesses and helping middle market companies get
to the next level. So I think there's a lot
of different ways that I can take it. You know,
with more time, it will the opportunities will reveal themselves.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
I think that that's yeah, excited for what comes next.
I also, you know, having been on the journey, like
just as a as a yeah, from the outside looking in,
it's been. It's fun. It's you're like a character in
a story that I mean, I know.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
That you're a human beings.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah, And I just think it's it's really Yeah. I
think it's a privilege to get to follow you on
that journey and like and every once in a while
check in, see what's happening, what's this new iteration of Morgan? Like,
and I just wish you so much luck with the
book and I hope it is as huge as it
deserves to be. I will be giving a copy to
(35:39):
multiple solopreneur friends of mine who I feel like need it.
And yeah, just let me know what Morgan coaching program
I can sign up for.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
You can sign up for work Smart. We meet monthly.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We have so much fun and we usually have about
one hundred and fety people on the call.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We talk about whatever's going on in the world and
I just have people work through it.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Amazing. All right, Morgan, y'all go check out her book,
get pre order it now. I'm putting the link in
the show notes. And do you have a book website.
I'm sure you do. Rewrite your rules dot com.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Rules dot com. There we go.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
All right, that's how you know she was talking to Tiffany.
Everyone's got that book website.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
Now.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
I think you need the tenth step plan and I
shall follow it.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
I mean it, it works, it works, all right, va fan.
Thanks for tuning in, Morgan, thank you so much for
joining me Brown Ambition.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Mandy, thanks for having me. See y'all later. Bye,
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