Join us for an eye-opening conversation on the Fire Social Worker Show as we feature Marthea Pitts, the powerhouse known as the MSW Coach. With a career journey that has taken her from state government call centers to a PhD candidate at Florida A&M University, Marthea’s story is one of tenacity and innovation. She reveals her unique approach to social work, driven by a talent for demystifying complex policies and a commitment to uplift underserved communities. Discover how Marthea’s entrepreneurial spirit led her to create coaching programs that empower social workers to transform their passion into profitable ventures.
Our discussion navigates the often challenging landscape of social work careers, offering strategies for social workers to enhance both job satisfaction and financial well-being. Marthea and I stress the importance of building a personal brand and being strategic about academic and professional choices to open doors to fulfilling opportunities. From negotiating job offers to exploring tech-driven roles, Marthea provides invaluable insights into how social workers can effectively advocate for themselves and leverage their unique skills in a variety of settings.
As we wrap up, the episode touches on the promising intersection of social work and technology, and how social workers can step into roles that use tech to streamline operations and dispel misinformation. Through compelling stories of success and empowerment, listeners are encouraged to embrace bold career choices and seize the opportunities that lie ahead. Don’t miss the chance to learn from Marthea’s expertise and consider how you too can craft a rewarding path in social work.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
All right, hello everybody.
This is the Fire Social WorkerShow.
Welcome, welcome.
Looks like Marthea, you'remuted.
Let me go ahead and go livehere.
Okay, there we go.
I am the fire social worker andI'm a certified financial social
(00:24):
worker, just passionate abouttalking finances and passionate
about social work, and I'm justexcited to kind of spread the
gospel about personal finance.
And so I have a special guestwith me today.
I have Ms Marthia Pitts.
You might know her as the MSWcoach.
I mean, honestly, she's got somany irons in the fire.
(00:48):
I actually, if you don't mind,I'm going to go through some of
the accolades that you'veaccomplished so far.
I'll talk you up a little bit.
Okay, sorry.
So this is actually fromChatGPT.
People don't know that you canactually set ChatGPT as your
default search engine now, whichis kind of interesting, but
anyway.
(01:08):
So I actually just put you into ChatGPT and it came up with.
Marthea Pitts is a distinguishedworkforce development center
career counselor andmacro-focused social worker
specializing in program designand policy.
The lead founder and leadconsultant of MSW Coach, a
career consulting company thatcollaborates with governmental
(01:30):
agencies, community-basedorganizations and educational
institutions to enhance careerpathways for undersourced
populations.
And you know like I'm going topost this in the show notes, but
there's four more paragraphs,so a decade of career experience
assisted more than 150 socialworkers.
(01:50):
A PhD candidate at Florida A&MUniversity consulting work Like
you have your own podcast.
You have a YouTube channel,like I mean.
My question for you is justlike when do you sleep?
Like, how do you?
How do you function?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Actually, I think I was well prepared for this
entrepreneurial journey, becauseI didn't always have the most
ideal jobs.
I spent a lot more years beingseverely overworked, so I'm kind
of I've kind of been trainedthe hard way for it okay well,
we're going to go into a littlebit of your backstory, um, you
(02:30):
know, because this is, uh, youknow this.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
This is for social workers, but it's for everybody
too, so there are some aspiringsocial workers that watch and
listen.
So, uh, just tell us a littlebit about you know, what
inspired you to get into socialwork, and a little bit about
your backstory, but what got youto where you are.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, most definitely .
Hey, hey, hey, my name isMarthea Pitts.
I'm known on the social workstreets as the MSW coach, and my
journey to social work was notone that I took willingly.
I started off working in stategovernment and call center
positions, to be exact, inregulatory specialist roles.
(03:06):
So I was the person that, whenyou call a state agency to like
find out, maybe, about yourchild support case, or to submit
a report to the abuse hotline,or to find out about social
workers getting reciprocity oflicensure in the state of
Florida, I was the person youtalked to.
And so what that looks like wasevery day, day in, day out, me
(03:30):
talking to hundreds of peoplefrom all walks of life.
But more than that, it alsolooked like me being heavily
reliant on state laws, policiesand statutesutes and reading
them in large amounts tointerpret how to assist the
caller, and so the questionswould be a range of things, but
(03:53):
I had to use my resources, whichwere the laws, the regulatory
laws and policies, to answertheir questions.
And so I believe that thoseearly years working in call
centers have been foundationalin my career and where it is now
, because in those roles Ilearned to read, interpret and
(04:14):
apply very complex technicalinformation and dissemin can
talk to anybody and they willunderstand a complex thing and
it honestly came from the yearsworking on the front lines.
I can talk to the blue collarworker and I can talk to the
senior executive leaders andI've done that in all of my
positions.
(04:35):
And so my journey into socialwork again was not willing.
I didn't dream of being asocial worker.
I actually had a good friend ofmine at the time who was not a
social worker.
She had a psychology background.
However, she worked in a lot ofsocial service agencies and for
years Joey, I mean years shewould tell me Marthea, you would
(04:58):
be a great social worker,you've been through a lot, like
you could really help the people.
I was like, no, I don't want tobe a social worker, because my
understanding of a social workeris very skewed at the time from
working in social serviceagencies again at those state
agencies and working with socialservice workers, I always
(05:19):
thought those were socialworkers.
And then my only likeconnection point to that was in
the child welfare system which Iworked at, the abuse hotline.
So I wasn't going to people'shouses but I would always say
like no, I don't want to takepeople's keys.
I thought that's how socialworkers did so.
After years, like years, of herencouraging me to do the thing,
(05:40):
I finally did it.
And it it was, and I made thedecision to do it.
During the year I took a careersabbatical for my call center
jobs because I was severelyburnt out.
It's only so much talking thatan introvert can do before it
negatively impacts you.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So I had to shout out to the introverts it's.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's a lot of work sometimes yeah, and I didn't
even know what was going on.
And so I took a year-longcareer sabbatical and during
that time I got very clear onthat I was supposed to become a
social worker.
So I enrolled in my Master's ofSocial Work degree program at
the Florida A&M University.
I went and taught.
(06:22):
Well, before I enrolled I wentand taught to the department
chairs and I taught, learnedabout their program and that it
wasn't a clinical program.
It was an administrative trackprogram, meaning they prepare
you to be like leaders of socialservice agencies, nonprofits,
things like that, which wasgreat for me because at that
time my career goal was tostreamline the delivery of the
(06:47):
social services, like in thoseorganizations that I worked in,
because I saw so many issueswith how the service was being
provided that I was like I'mgoing to go and change the face
of social service delivery.
And so when I learned about theprogram, I was like this is
what I need, and so I enrolledand my world was shifted.
(07:08):
I experienced the hugest and thelargest paradigm shift at that
time for where I was in my ownpersonal life as far as economic
injustice.
(07:30):
I lived in a city, tallahassee,florida, that was identified to
be the most economicallysegregated city in the nation in
2017.
And so all of this is like acombination of things I didn't
share with you all that, like Iwas always a non-traditional
student.
I started out working on my AAdegree, and it was in a
(07:50):
community my associative artsdegree and it was in a community
college sociology class that Imade the discovery that the
things I was experiencing in mylife was not a result of
something being inherently wrongwith me, but it was a result of
me being impacted by theseinvisible systems.
I always thought that myinability to get a good paying
(08:12):
job was because I just couldn'tget one, but what I didn't take
into account was my inability toget a good paying job because I
didn't have reliabletransportation.
I lived in a city that doesn'thave mass transportation.
I didn't have reliable childcare.
I had a lot of didn't haves,and so it was in that sociology
(08:35):
class when the sociology adjunctprofessor was talking about
these systems, I was like, oh mygosh, that is the story of my
life.
And so when I enrolled in theMSW degree program and my
professors were talking to usabout the importance of being a
watchdog in policy.
(08:56):
Again, it wasn't a macrospecific program but, because
it's a program at a historicallyBlack college and university,
they talked to us about theimportance of addressing the
root cause issues, or theproblems that we see in our
potential clients, and so it wasa combination of all of those
things in addition to me workingin a workforce development
(09:21):
center at the time as aworkforce development career
counselor that it really put abattery on my back um, in my
back to be more preventionfocused rather than intervention
so I really say that I feellike I didn't become, because I
didn't graduate until like threeyears into that job, because I
(09:46):
took a longer pace track,because I could only do two
classes at a time.
But it wasn't until like I wasin that role and in my MSW
degree program did I reallyunderstand the magnitude of the
profession that I had chosen andthat my role was going to be
way bigger than just givingpeople some bus passes and some
(10:08):
child care.
So I'll stop there, but that'smy journey into social work.
But yeah, I didn't come here afree will at first, but yeah,
I'm actually kind of in asimilar boat too.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
My experience with social work was similar.
I had my bachelor's inpsychology and then a social
worker.
I was working at a stateresidential facility for acute
psychiatrics and a social workertook me under her wing and she
was like you're going to be asocial worker, you know like.
She just was like reallyadamant about that.
So, Mary Stacy, if you're outthere, if you're listening I
(10:48):
know she's around, she's stillgrinding, but she actually ended
up being my supervisor for myinternship too.
So, yeah, so just a greatinfluence.
So shout out to all the socialworkers that are turning other
people into future socialworkers.
But yeah, it's like, onceyou're in, you're like everyone
(11:08):
should be a social worker.
Everyone can be a social worker.
If you think about it, I mean,well, okay, maybe let me take
that back a little bit, yeah,but yeah, I think we should all
be caring for other humans.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Thank you Very much so, very much so, but yeah, so,
so that's a really man like.
There's a lot to you know.
It just sounds like you.
You were built for macro socialwork from the very beginning,
almost, you know, like, but youdidn't even know that it was
really a thing, did you?
So it's really crazy how allthat, how that kind of
transpired so.
(11:43):
So I guess I'm sure some it'sreally crazy how all that kind
of transpired.
So I guess I'm sure somequestions are going to come up
of like so how do I get in macrosocial work?
If you wanted to start from theground floor, you know, let's
say they're bachelors, they havea bachelor's degree and they
want to get their master's insocial work Maybe, what would
you tell them?
To give them some advice onbecoming a macro social worker?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Yeah, my biggest advice is to become a subject
matter expert.
So my name before likeofficially landing my first
macro job was synonymous withthe person who know how to get
people jobs in the workforcedevelopment system.
I won two statewide awards andone national award because I was
(12:26):
doing the impossible in myregion.
I didn't realize it was such abig deal.
And I didn't understand at thattime why the CEO and the
national directors and theregional leaders were making
such a big deal about my jobplacements.
It wasn't until years later,when I left that position and I
learned about my city being themost economically segregated
(12:47):
city in the nation, that Iunderstand the magnitude of what
I was doing.
So with that, what with that,that time in that center made me
a subject matter expert onconnecting under-resourced
populations and communities withquality employment.
And so what I say to socialworkers who are still in case
(13:11):
management, direct practice jobs, is to find the thing that
you're good at and build a brandaround that and you will
forever be paid.
And it's hard for socialworkers to do that, especially
when you're in case managementroles, because you're required
to be the Jack and Jill ofeverything under the sun.
They want you to move the sofasand bake the turkeys and get in
(13:34):
counseling and do the thingsright.
And so, for a lot of socialworkers, they cannot process the
thought of focusing on onething because they become so
accustomed to being overworked.
But my tip is find one thing,become really, really good at
that thing and make certain thateverybody knows that that's
(13:55):
your thing and don't just pick arandom thing off the list.
Find the thing that makes youexcited, like like me.
You could tell I'm gettingexcited when I and joey, I'm
sure you've been on the live ofmine when I'm talking about jobs
.
I'll kick into a whole anothergear, right, because I have a
personal connection to years ofnot having good jobs, and so I
(14:18):
understand how one good job canchange your life.
That's why I'm so excited totalk to you about the FIRE
movement.
So find something that you like, because a lot of social
workers have settled in theircareers and they're doing things
that they don't like, that theyactually can't tolerate, only
(14:38):
because someone told them youcan make good money doing it.
But when I start talking tothem about how much money
they're making and I'm makinggood money and their, their
career satisfaction is in thedumps they're racing in the
dumps.
So I would say find your onething.
Make certain that it'ssomething that you are super
passionate about.
(14:59):
And that's how you create acareer lane for yourself.
And that's how you create acareer lane for yourself.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah, I know, I will say just from personal
experience too, like when youget into social work and I
didn't know much about the fieldthat much to begin with.
But the field is so broad, youknow, like there's so many
different directions you can godown, which is both a good and a
bad thing depending on how youlook at it.
Like I'm kind of a paralysisanalysis kind of person.
(15:26):
Sometimes if I have too manychoices, I don't know what to go
down, what path to go down, andthen a lot of times I feel like
sometimes people or social work, new social workers, fresh
grads, they take what they canget, and I was in that situation
too.
It was like I had bills to pay,I needed a job and so I took
the first, basically the firstplace that would hire me.
But you know, that's, that's, Iguess that's kind of part of
(15:47):
the industry now.
But hopefully, with youradvocacy and just trying to push
for, you know, higher wages forsocial workers across the board
, you know, maybe we won't, wewon't have this, we won't have
to worry about this.
You know conversation, this,you know conversation, but it is
definitely a concern for a lotof social workers and you know,
(16:08):
I think you mentioned in some ofyour streams that they're even
talking about this at the schoollevel of, like you know, don't
expect to make a whole lot ofmoney.
You know, like they're they'repriming you for this and that's
just.
I just feel like that's justwrong.
And, you know, hopefully, likeI said, we can change the
narrative and change the numbers.
I mean, let's be real, we gotto change the numbers, but yeah,
(16:30):
so Let me add something to that.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
That's a great point that you just made Right.
So I am a systems thinker.
I had to acknowledge that.
So one of the things that Ialways really push for people is
yes, we would like for thesystem to change.
We would like for the narrativeto change around.
Social workers made little tono money and that's just the way
(16:52):
it's going to be.
However, we got to create aworkaround because that's not
going to happen tomorrow.
It might not even happen in thenext decade or two.
So my work around to students,especially if I could like wave
a magical wand, it would be thatwhen you are in your education
degree program, remember why youwent to go get a degree.
(17:16):
It was to go get a better job.
Yes, for people who have, likefamily support systems, who are
well off, they go to school justto learn how to critically
think and learn all day.
However, for many of us, we'regoing as a means to an end, to
go and increase our salaryearning potential.
However, what I see a lot ofpeople do is get wrapped up in
(17:39):
the idea of being a traditionalstudent, where I just go to
school and I just focus on mystudies and that is just it.
No, you should also be keepingin the forefront that the goal
is to not just walk across thestage with your degree.
It's also to walk across thestage with a job offer in your
hand, and so, in order to dothat, you have to be very
(18:01):
strategic, from even the firststep of choosing the degree
program, about the steps thatyou're going to be taking to
ensure that you get that.
So that it looks like whatdegree program?
Is this an in-demand degreeprogram?
Do they have job placement?
Is it guaranteed job placement?
What is their relationship withemployers?
(18:22):
Do they have a robustrelationship with, like a system
of employers that have graduatedegree pathway?
I mean graduate pathways whereI can go straight into a job.
The internships and practicumsites that you're choosing A lot
of students and I've had theopportunity to talk to thousands
at this point all around theworld, thousands at this point
(18:46):
all around the world they gointo, like the practicum
internship which we know everysocial work student has to do
that in some way, shape form orfashion, and they go into it
with.
I'm just checking the box.
My word of advice for you is tonot do that, because your
internship should be preparingyou with the experience you need
to get the type of job that youwant.
So if you let the people tellyou we only have five the
experience you need to get thetype of job that you want.
So if you let the people tellyou we only have five sites and
(19:09):
you have to pick from this list,you already are going the wrong
way.
Turn around, go back and startadvocating for yourself and let
the people know no, I want topractice on site that does blah,
blah, blah, even if thatrequires you to go and do the
lead like, and it's not even therelevant experience but the
(19:46):
requisite knowledge to get thejobs that they want right.
And so what that comes from isnot having adequate experiential
learning opportunities.
That means you just tookwhatever they gave you and so
you really set yourself up forfailure, or let them set you up
for failure.
So you have to really be yourown advocate, so I love that you
(20:11):
brought that up.
My theme for students would bebe your first client.
Don't wait until you're in thefield.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I like that.
That's a good quote right there.
Your first client.
I like that.
You gotta trademark that one.
That's awesome.
Yeah, because I mean, like Isaid, I started listening to
podcasts about social work whenI was in grad school and I wish
I wish someone like I wish I'dstumbled upon that nugget of
wisdom because I was the sameway I, just I just along with.
(20:42):
Well, we only have so manyplaces for practicums, so I just
did what I could and I tookwhat I could get.
But, looking back on it, Icould have advocated and really
fought for, okay, I want to dothis in this field and I'm
willing to move mountains to getthere Because, like you said,
it sets you up.
(21:03):
It's like a domino effect ofgood things.
So that's some great, greatadvice.
So I appreciate you bringingthat up.
Well, so, so you got a lot onyour plate and, uh, you know,
you went from like, uh, macro,and then now you're kind of,
you're doing the entrepreneurialthing.
Are you still doing macro workor are you just purely
(21:25):
entrepreneurial at this point?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I'm full-time in my business, I consider myself to
be a social entrepreneur, andthat my work is is still on the
macro level, um and?
But I'm also a current phdcandidate, so right now I'm
fully engrossed in the researchproposal phase.
Joey, let's don't ask, don'task me a question about that PhD
program.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
You probably don't even want to think of those
letters PhD anymore, and it's amessage that started yesterday.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
One person, somebody's podcast.
I went on and she asked me allof the questions.
It was a Friday.
I was like I don't want tothink about that, but no yeah.
So I'm a current PhD-time phdcandidate, so I'm focused on
that right now but yeah, I havea career goal with that my goal
is.
I have some long-term careergoals.
(22:14):
I won't get too far into it,but I will return to the
workforce at some point.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah okay all right, but in the meantime you're,
you're also mentoring andcoaching and doing all this like
you're, basically you're,you're single handedly helping
the social profession, like allthese new, all these
entrepreneurial social workers.
Because I mean, like let's bereal, you know we got to pay the
(22:40):
bills and you know we do have agood amount of skill sets and
that that is marketable.
So can you, can you talk to anyaspiring entrepreneurial social
workers and maybe give themsome advice on how to get
started?
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, I actually just started another coaching
program.
So I have two tracks to mybusiness.
I have a track for socialworkers who want to stay in a
nine to five job.
I have the micro to macrocareer accelerator program, and
that's the program where I teachthem in three months or less
how to identify, apply,interview for their dream macro
(23:16):
social work job.
But then on the other track, Ihave those who want to become
mission driven entrepreneurs,and so that program is called
Passion to Profit and it'scurrently a six-week program and
it's where I take them throughthe process of learning how to
ideate a business, like how tocome up with a business idea
(23:40):
based solely on theirintellectual property, the stuff
they have up here.
Because when I started mybusiness journey, the problem
that I kept coming against wasthat I came into contact with a
lot of what I like to calluniversal entrepreneurs, people
who were not mission driven, whoI like Joey knows I like to
(24:01):
talk real, regular, like peoplewho will sell their soul for a
dollar, and I was like all moneyand good money, I don't.
I don't want to sell my cat fora dollar, like I don't want to
sell my dog for a dollar.
I don't know.
I need to have meaningful, likea meaning or why, behind what
I'm doing, and so I came upagainst a lot of walls.
(24:22):
I spent a lot of money a lot ofmoney on business coaching and
what I realized was there was avery distinct difference between
a mission driven entrepreneurand a universal entrepreneur.
So what I've done is because ofthe years.
I've been asked occasionally bysocial workers to like tell
them how to start a business,and my response was always like
(24:44):
I'm trying to figure it outmyself.
The only thing I can tell youis vet your business coach right
, because I've invested a lot ofmoney in business coaching.
That was the benefit of havinga good job, a good macro job.
My employer was the silentinvestor in my business, so that
was the only thing I waswilling to tell people is I was
(25:05):
still trying to figure it out onmy own.
However, I'm at the point nowwhere I figured it out and it
works for me as a mission-drivenentrepreneur and it aligns with
my owner's intent.
I work really hard not to be atype A personality person which
I had to be in call centers.
You had to be perfect all thetime or you would be called out
(25:28):
about your errors in publicforums.
So I worked really hard toshift from the orange on the
colors personality assessment.
I'm now a blue and I don't everwant to go back to that.
So I say that because mybusiness aligns with that.
Like I'm very big on moving inaligned flow, I don't do work
(25:49):
that I don't want to do.
I don't work with people that Idon't want to work with.
I only do things that feel goodto my soul.
So I started Passion to Profitto teach other social workers
how to create aligned businessesas well yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, that's definitely something that that I
want to explore too.
Um, you know, because I think Icommented on one of your your
instagram videos of like uh, youknow, said something about your
dream macro job, and I was like, well, what if my dream macro
job doesn't exist?
you know, because I want to be amacro financial social worker
and I was like, well, what if mydream macro job doesn't exist?
You know, because I want to bea macro, financial social worker
and I want to change the thelike.
(26:27):
You know, like my, my bigvision is to change financial
literacy for the good and, andyou know, make it accessible and
all that other stuff.
But, like, as far as I know Imean I'm sure there are policy
level jobs that deal withfinancial literacy and I've done
a little bit of research intothat but uh, but yeah, like, so
it, what, what?
What would you say to somebodywho's like, maybe has this lofty
(26:47):
vision?
Um, and then they, you know,like they don't know where to
even start yeah, I would firstsay that there's no one better
than you, right?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
so that's why I was like it's time to start this,
which it was always a part of myplan to eventually teach social
workers how to be consultants.
However, what I've found overmy last five years in my
entrepreneurial journey is thatmy impact is greater outside of
the system.
It's not to say that I won'tever which I do consult with
(27:16):
organizations, but I find that Iam most impactful outside of
the system working with thefuture generation of leaders in
my coaching, my career, coachingbusiness.
So what I would say to you, orsomeone like that, is you most
definitely need clarity aroundwhat it is, how you want your,
(27:39):
what you want your owner'sintent of your business to be
right.
So what happens is how you wantyour, what you want your
owner's intent of your businessto be right.
So what happens is sometimespeople just make the goal
revenue when in reality, that'snot the real reason why they
started their business.
Some people may start theirbusiness to have time freedom.
Others may start it to haveautonomy.
Others may start to haveautonomy.
(27:59):
Others may start to createbigger impact.
So, with all that I just sayget clear on what your owner's
intent is for your business andthen design a business based off
of that.
And be very careful and this iswhat I teach my coaching
clients in the first cycle ofpassion, the first cohort of
passion of profit cohort ofpassion of profit be very
(28:24):
careful about the voices thatyou listen to, because the most
dominant voices in, like thebusiness space online, are
universal entrepreneurs and theywill lead you off a cliff and
they will have you tryingeverything under the sun and
it's not going to work for youbecause you're different.
So you first want to haveclarity around your owner's
intent why you want yourbusiness, how you want your
(28:46):
business to feel, who you wantyour business to serve, and then
also like who is your idealclient?
Who do you want to work with?
Want to work with?
So what I've seen over the years, when social workers would jump
in my inbox and ask me abouthelping them start a business,
(29:06):
one of the biggest issues that Isaw repeatedly was that they
were approaching their businessdevelopment the way they have to
show up in their social workcareer.
So in your micro social workcareer, you have to work with
the most under-resourcedpopulations and communities.
However, when you are in abusiness that does not translate
(29:26):
to dollars because those peoplewon't be able to pay your fees
right.
So you have to get verycreative and clear around who
will pay your fee and understandthat you are running a
for-profit business and not anon-profit.
That's another thing where Isee social workers struggle.
(29:47):
They run their business like anon-profit.
Um, and a lot of them also.
Like you mentioned earlier,there are tons of social work
entrepreneurs online.
However, they run theirbusiness like it's just a hobby,
when my belief is, if you'repouring your sweat equity, your
(30:08):
intellectual property, thethings that you became very
knowledgeable about over theyears, you should be adequately
compensated for that.
So I see a lot of socialworkers approaching their
business like they do theirsocial work career and it's
sometimes hard for them to puttheir business hat on.
And again, talking about howthe dots connect, my undergrad
(30:32):
degree is in business andmarketing.
I wanted to work in corporate.
I used to do hair back in theday and I was like I want to do
marketing for a hair carecompany.
But I understand now like thatwas a dot that was preparing me
for where I am now.
So a lot of social workersstruggle with putting the
business hat on.
So with my current coachingclients and Passion of Profit is
(31:01):
really helping them think froma business mindset.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So, yeah, I hope I answered your question
Absolutely and actually it makesme think I've talked about this
with other social workers toois that you know, a lot of us
entrepreneurial social workersare driven by the lower pay and,
like you said, all thosefactors, but then in social work
school, like they don't teachus business stuff, you know, and
(31:24):
this is common in the mentalhealth and mental health world
too, like you know, therapistsdon't really know how to run a
business necessarily.
So so, yeah, I definitely feelthat and I'm I'm kind of, I feel
not not attacked, but I do feellike you were talking about me
and a lot of that what you weresaying, but in a good way,
because it's like I've learnedsome of those things too.
(31:45):
I've learned some lessons thehard way.
I've consulted with some, youknow, business coaches that
didn't have my best interests atheart and so, yeah, so I guess
I would just say, you know, ormaybe we could talk about for
those entrepreneurial socialworkers, yeah, like you said to,
to kind of drill down on yourvision, but then you're also
(32:10):
going to have to potentially, um, you know, strengthen a muscle
that you don't even have, orbuild a muscle, you know so.
So business mind is I don'thave a business mind, or like
when you say, put on yourbusiness hat, I'm like, well, I
don't, there's a hat.
I didn't know there was a hat,so but yeah, so like I'm
learning that stuff like kind oflike painfully sometimes, but
(32:32):
but like I'm just grateful thatthere are people like you out
there that are actually givingback and like sharing your
knowledge, cause you have a veryunique background and
experience.
That so, um, yeah, I just, youknow, I just hope that, um,
somehow people will find theirway to you much sooner in their
careers.
Um, then, you know, like,because I'm only I've been a
(32:54):
social worker for a little overa year and I'm already looking,
you know, like many steps ahead.
But I think that there'sprobably a lot of social workers
out there and aspiring socialworkers who who maybe feel
overwhelmed and they don't, youknow, they're just like you know
.
But going back to that analysisprocess, you know like there's
(33:14):
too many, too many trajectoriesthat you can go, go on, that.
You can go, go on, um, but yeah, I mean, uh, I think you know
you've given some really justgreat nuggets so far and I just
uh, and I just I just appreciatelike I should have had you on,
like, uh, since day one, youknow, on this on the show, but,
uh, probably gonna have to haveyou on multiple times if, if,
(33:36):
well, whenever your schedule isopen, because I know that's
going to be a crazy, crazy thingto try to navigate, but yeah,
so, okay.
So we were talking about alittle bit about the FIRE
movement and you know, obviously, as the FIRE social worker, I'm
big on personal finance.
I'm big on the FIRE movementand you know part of my whole,
(33:57):
you know mission statement ormission is to try to help people
with their finances, but thenalso document, like, okay, I'm
on my own mid-journey of fireand you know what, you know what
does that look like?
And but you know like what, asfar as your like, do you have
any good financial advice, youknow, for social workers that
(34:17):
you would like to impart?
Speaker 2 (34:18):
maybe, and we can talk about that a little bit-
yeah, my piece of advice is getyour one good paying job and it
will change your life.
And because what I see is a lotof social workers go about
their job search by looking atwhat are the credentials
required for the job and nottaking into account, like, what
(34:43):
do they need for the totality oftheir life, right?
So I talk about that in thecontext of looking at every area
of your life, but specificallyfinancial Right.
And so how you do that is bynot just looking at the salary
but looking at the compensationpackages.
By not just looking at thesalary but looking at the
(35:03):
compensation packages.
Are they robust enough tosupport how you want to live,
how you need to live?
What does the 401k match looklike?
Is there an investment optionwhere they'll give you a piece
of the company?
For the therapy clinicians I'mnot clinical Joey, so I
sometimes use the words wrong,but I know they love to work
(35:25):
with mental health tech startupsyou need to be looking at.
Are they going to give you apiece of that company?
You need to be looking at, likewhat are the healthcare
benefits?
These are the things that Iteach my coaching clients before
they even hit apply.
We don't do it once the joboffer is made and you're on a
job and then you find out thishealth insurance is trash.
(35:46):
We all, as subcase workers,have worked at a nonprofit where
the health insurance wascomplete trash.
I worked at one.
So, these are things that youare supposed to be looking at
before you even hit apply and Iteach my coaching clients that
because it impacts your life.
And then, even outside of thecompensation package, what are
(36:07):
like the time off benefits, likePTO, lead policy, things like
that sick leave policy?
You also want to look at thethings that are not tangible to
physical dollars.
What does the work from homepolicy look like?
Well, do they give you tuitionreimbursement?
Will they cover your tuitioncosts?
(36:29):
Do they have tuition waivers?
Like all of those years that Istayed in state government, that
was a strategic move.
It wasn't just because I loveit here, it was because they
were paying for my schooling.
A lot of it I had to pay out ofpocket because I flunked out
miserably when I first went outof high school, but a lot of it
was waived by my state and itwas strategic.
Like I learned that the statewill pay for you to go back to
(36:52):
school.
I'm going over there.
Say less what I need to do,right, so things like that.
So I would say that get you onegood job and don't be short
sighted.
That's why I say you have tolook at more than just the
salary.
I had a.
I did a podcast recordingyesterday or the day before with
(37:14):
one of my micro to macro careeraccelerator alum.
That's my career coachingprogram and his name is Alec.
That's my career coachingprogram and his name is Alec,
and he was talking about howhe's thriving in his life and
this is the most money he's evermade and how he's able to pay
all of his monthly bills out ofone paycheck.
I said, doesn't that feel good?
I remember when that firsthappened to me with my first
(37:35):
macro job.
I was like what is going onhere and you still have money
left over you have money to save, you have money to invest Right
.
One good paying job will changeyour life, and so that's what I
encourage for people on theirfinancial journey.
Instead of looking at 50million different side hustles
(37:57):
which social workers like to dodo find you one good quality job
and put, put, put your efforts,your soul into that job.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Basically, yeah, because I think we do get
distracted.
Shiny object syndrome, you knowthis this new thing is is
popping off.
So yeah, I definitely feel that, um and uh, you know, that's
some, some great, great advicetoo.
Oh, another thing that Ithought of while you were
talking was supervision forsocial workers that are trying
(38:29):
to get their LCSW.
Some companies will pay, or atleast reimburse you, and I'm
actually working on that rightnow with my companies that
they're going to.
You know, some places havein-house supervision which will
go towards your clinical hoursand it's all already, you know,
in-house, so that's easy.
But then some companies willpay or reimburse you for
(38:51):
supervision hours towards yourLCSW.
So, um, yeah, just littlethings like that.
You know, like I would havenever thought to ask that, but
I've started asking that in myinterviews.
I'm like you know like what?
What are some of these otherfringe benefits or intangibles
like you're saying?
um so, yeah, it's definitely youwant to go in there fully
informed to your, to yourinterviews, like knowing,
(39:13):
knowing the market, knowing howmuch you're worth um.
But speaking of knowing howmuch you're worth um, do you get
any tips for um this?
You know tips for socialworkers in the negotiation space
, because I'm a little, I'm notthe greatest negotiator, but I'm
getting better.
So what are some good tips forit?
Speaker 2 (39:32):
And that's what popped up in my mind when you
were talking about that.
Most definitely, negotiateeverything, negotiate, negotiate
, negotiate.
I know a lot of social workerslike to tell y'all to network
for jobs.
I don't teach networking, butwhat I do say is negotiate,
negotiate, negotiate.
Um.
And so what I?
I give a resource to mycoaching clients, um of the AAUW
(39:55):
, which is an organization thatteaches you.
They have a self-paced coursethat teaches you how to do
salary negotiations and it'sworked for my coaching clients.
I have coaching clients thathave negotiated their salaries
over like $30,000 more than whatwas initially being offered.
(40:16):
So it works and it's free.
But most definitely negotiateeverything.
If they're unwilling which formacro employers, because that's
what I specialize in they'realways open to negotiate because
their budgets are much biggerthan micro employers.
But if you're interviewing fora micro job and they're like we
don't have any money, then findsomething else to negotiate.
(40:37):
Maybe you can negotiate aflexible schedule.
Maybe you can negotiate aflexible schedule.
There was a point where I moved,when I moved from state
government to my workforcedevelopment job, that wasn't in
the state government systemanymore.
One of the things that I wasable to negotiate on campus in
my class at 5 pm, right, insteadof getting off at 5 pm and then
(41:15):
getting here at 530, because myprofessors did not tolerate
being late, and so that issomething that I negotiated and,
again, it wasn't tangibledollars, but it's resulted in
more dollars for me in mylifetime earning potential,
because it allowed me to go getmy degree, and I made a lot of
money for that degree.
So you have to not, you can'tjust be short sighted and I say
(41:36):
that because I've been therebefore where you're just trying
to pay the bills.
But one thing I've learnedabout social workers, though, is
that you all are very ambitious.
You're high achievers, the onesthat you know.
Connect with me If you'velistened this long to this
episode that means you connectto something that we're talking
about.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
One thing.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
I know about you you are a high achiever, so with
that you have lots of goals foryourself.
So again, if you can'tnegotiate the pay, lots of goals
for yourself.
So again, if you can'tnegotiate the pay, negotiate
something else.
Joey just gave a good exampleof supervision hours.
Maybe, like for me, when I went, it was my own.
I only had two case managementjobs.
(42:13):
So my second case managementjob was at a DV shelter where I
was a transitional housingprogram coordinator and I
managed three scattered sitehousing sites and so I
specifically took that jobbecause it gave me the
flexibility to create my ownschedule.
All right.
And so why that was important tome is because my daughter at
(42:36):
the time was getting ready toenter 11th grade and she had
already created the educationplan of doing dual enrollment
enter 11th grade and she hadalready created the education
plan of doing dual enrollment.
In 11th grade we do annualfamily planning.
She told me that ninth gradeand 11th grade I'm going to be
doing dual enrollment to becomea certified pastry chef.
So I had it on my career planbefore the end of 10th grade
(43:01):
that I will get another jobwhere I have flexibility to
leave and come as I want,because I would have to pick her
up in the middle of the dayfrom high school and take her
over to the college campus andthen pick her up before the end
of my work shift and take herback home, and that was
important to me as a singleparent.
So, again, negotiation isn'talways dollars and the value of
(43:25):
that alone.
If I had to put a dollar amountto it, it's out of this world,
because now my daughter is apastry chef.
She's had multiple jobs.
She went to college to, youknow, get a business degree
around it, so it was invaluable.
So if they can't negotiate withyou in dollars, there's
something else that you needflexibility on and don't be
(43:47):
afraid to ask for it, especiallybecause, again, the people that
engage with me, you all, aresuperstars and it's time to
leverage that superstar stuff,that star power that you're
giving off at your job.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Well, I mean I will say from all the social workers
that I've come across, you knowit takes a special kind of
person to basically step up andwant to do something like this,
because it's not always, it'skind of a thankless job
sometimes, but it's also veryfulfilling and rewarding and
then, especially for a lot ofpeople knowing that you're not
going to get paid that muchmoney respective to other jobs
(44:25):
with a master's degree.
So it, yeah, it does take acertain kind of person, and I've
just been a big advocate sincethe beginning of you know
companies need to start steppingup and paying social workers
their fair share.
You know we're highly educated,we're diverse, talented and
driven and just big-heartedpeople usually.
(44:48):
So, yeah, it sounds like you'vegot a whole dynasty going on in
your household.
Your daughter's thinking fouryears ahead of time.
That's impressive.
Better watch out, because thePitts family is going to be
knocking on doors here soon.
(45:08):
That's crazy.
That's impressive.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
I'm a huge advocate for career plans.
You need a plan.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
Even if it's a baby plan, you need a plan.
Yeah, very first day of school,of grad school, is like all
right, what, what do you want tospecialize in?
And at that point I was like Idon't know, I don't know yet,
you know, but I think they weretrying to get us to think about
okay, yeah, you're gonna need tokind of specialize a little bit
, like you're saying, and becomea subject matter expert, and I
think a lot, of, a lot of socialworkers and maybe just young
(45:50):
people in general, they don'treally know what they want to do
just yet, or they, you know.
But yeah, so it's.
It's just really cool to see,like you know, your, your
skillset in action, not just foryourself and your clients, but
even your daughter.
Like, I mean, I'm just blownaway, I'm just, I can't, I don't
know words, but I'm just, yeah,I'm just a big, I guess, a fan
(46:15):
boy at this point.
Respect the game, I guess.
One thing I did want to askabout is a little bit I don't
know a little meta, but thefuture of social work.
Let's say, somebody's jumpinginto social work or they're
thinking about social work.
Do you see anything happening,like with the world of, like AI
(46:36):
and things like that.
Like, do you think that we youknow, social work, young social
workers need to be, like,well-versed in AI, or what do
you think about that?
Speaker 2 (46:45):
Yeah, I don't believe in coincidences, but the same
interview that I talked aboutdoing with one of my alum of my
program, alec.
The job that he landed was as alearning specialist for data
governance and so, and what Iwas talking to him about, which
he already knew there fromworking with me data sharing is
(47:07):
a hot button issue for nationalemployers, national macro
organizations right, becauseeveryone's interested in helping
to or trying to figure out howto solve these bigger issues,
the systems level issues.
However, they are extremelyconcerned with how people's
(47:30):
information is going to beprotected and used.
Information is going to beprotected and used, so most
definitely social workers.
That's interested in, like datagovernance, and even the
integration of AI to helpstreamline services and
organizations and businesses isgoing to be on the rise.
I always I love a good casestudy and there's this case
(47:54):
study that I use with mycoaching clients of a social
worker who works with IBM andwhat she does with IBM is and
this is she's been with them foryears at this point the SME the
SME the subject matter expertand helps them develop, design
(48:16):
and sell software and packagesto child welfare organizations
around the country on how tostreamline their case management
, like service delivery notes,taking things like that right.
And so that was my first touchof like technology and the
integration of a social worker,and what I anticipate is that
(48:39):
the need for that will be great.
What I would love is to see yes,we need clinicians and
clinician type roles, but Iwould love to see more of our
clinical therapists looking atthe administrative side of work
in tech organizations.
Right, that's another bigstruggle that I see with social
(49:00):
workers.
They only see themselves aspractitioners.
However, we can be on the otherside of the house and,
ironically enough, because Ispecialize in STEM careers for
youth and young adults, that'smy workforce development hat, my
macro hat.
There are way more admin jobs intech organizations and STEM
(49:21):
organizations than there aretechnician jobs, so they need
people in those support rolesand it's hard for them to fill
because no one knows thatthey're available.
They only think about thetechnician.
So I just see that being a hugelane that social workers can
fill, especially because a lotof organizations really are
(49:45):
becoming more mission-driven intheir creation of widgets and
products and services.
Yeah, a large part of that ispart of their corporate social
responsibility guidelines, butalso a lot of them are just
concerned about it.
So, yeah, I see it being a hugeopportunity.
With the incomingadministration, I see it
(50:07):
becoming even more of a hugeopportunity, and so, like the
lane is open and my biggestchallenge for social workers
this year is to stop sittingback and letting the loudest
people in the room lead all ofthe conversations.
And when I say the room, I'm notjust talking about in your
(50:27):
eight to five.
I'm talking about out in theworld, on social media, because
people are being led astray by alot of misinformation and it's
really time for the people whoare passion-filled,
mission-driven, who have somelike whatever the relevant
experience, even if it'spersonal relevant experience to
(50:49):
really be the loudest ones inthe room, because people are
hurting and they're looking forresolutions, they're looking for
solutions, and I know that alot of us are like focused on
just the nine to five or maybewe're struggling with our
introversion, but it's time foryou to open your mouth.
(51:09):
The people need you.
So I really been challenging mycoaching clients to do more of
that publicly outside of theirnine to five.
Um, so yeah, that's mychallenge.
So, whatever your thing is.
So joey with you in the firemovie, we should.
You should be everywheretalking about that.
And again, I know you talk toveterans and social workers.
(51:31):
I love it.
What other organizations can weget you in?
What other spaces?
Speaker 1 (51:36):
are you?
Speaker 2 (51:36):
on Talking to the people that you know.
Those are just me thinking outloud.
I'm sure you are.
Speaker 1 (51:43):
Well, you know, it's funny that you say that because,
you know, I do have a littlebit of an initiative that I'm
working on called WealthQuestand it's just I don't know if
that that's a, I don't know ifit's an available name, I think
it is, but it's basically goingto be a financial literacy video
game I started.
There's a non-profit calledvets who code, and I'm I'm going
(52:04):
to work with them to try tolearn how to code and build this
from scratch, if I can and, um,you know, be be a part of that.
You know, like you were saying,be a part of the, the solution,
and really it's just thepassion for me, and I've been a
gamer for forever and just loveit.
So it's kind of a merging offashions like gaming and then
(52:25):
financial literacy, and you knowthat's where it's where a lot
of like.
Also, video game therapy issomething that I've been
researching lately, so justtrying to.
You know, I'm a very tech nerdtype of person.
So that's when you said IBM, Iwas like whoa, I need to, I need
to update my resume becauseapparently if there's social
(52:46):
workers at IBM, then that'swhere I need to be.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, yeah, and in the like media arts I call arts,
but like media, media artsindustries they have huge.
They don't.
Of course, these are not jobs,they just say for social workers
, they're for anyone.
However, they are aligned withwhat social workers like to do.
(53:08):
So a part of what the work thatI do, which I really like love
to do, is clarity work withpeople, helping them getting
clear about what they want to doin their career and what they
want to do in their business,but specifically doing it by
looking out there at theiroutside passions and how to
infuse that.
So to hear you talk about, likein my free time I'm a gamer, oh,
(53:29):
that made sense, why you wantto create it, right.
But then also we can take iteven further, to like this is on
the nine-to-five type side ofthe house, like teach you how to
talk.
What employers would hire youto do something like that
in-house for them, and then evenon the business side,
organizations that you can comein and consult on the thing.
(53:52):
And you talked about theanalysis, paralysis, like.
I love that.
The biggest issue that I seewith social workers is, like
hesitancy to take action, and Ibe guilty of this in the
beginning of my entrepreneurialjourney, feeling like everything
has to be perfect, it has to belined up.
(54:13):
I actually had a 45-minute callwith a friend earlier today and
it's some stuff I've beentelling him for the last two
months and it's just like justdo it, why are we still talking?
But it has to be like this andyou are missing time and
opportunity.
So I say that to say take action, even when it's imperfect.
(54:36):
Right On my social media page,my stuff is not grade A like
compared to other people'scontent, but I'm taking action,
I'm impacting people, I'mgetting people to sign up for my
services, I'm educating, so Iwould leave that for whoever's
listening, also for you.
I love that.
(54:57):
But what can we be doing today,like, what can we do right now
with what you have in your hands?
Yes, because again, the peopleneed it and I love that.
The game idea.
Oh, that's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (55:10):
Well, you know, I've heard some good advice I got
early on was start messy, youknow, and then and then things
you know, as you get more repsin, as you get better, you'll
start to get better equipment oryou'll do this differently.
And I mean, yeah, I'm stillplenty messy, but I definitely
look back on my earlier stuffand I'm like, oh, that was rough
, but you know, you got to startsomewhere.
(55:32):
And then it also gives you like, when you do do look back on it
, you're like, wow, I actuallymade some improvements, I've
grown a little bit, I've gottena little bit better, and things
like that.
So, yeah, so any aspiringentrepreneurial, social workers
or just anybody, I guess at thatpoint, yeah, like you're saying
, don't wait until it's perfect,Just go out there and do it and
(55:53):
then iterate, improve and justget yourself out there Because,
yeah, you're wasting time.
That's a great point.
You're wasting time at thispoint.
So, wow.
So, yeah, we've covered a wholespectrum of things.
I love this conversation andthere's probably I'll probably
(56:20):
think of a hundred differentthings to ask you after we get
off the stream.
But so let's just recap alittle bit about okay, so you
have a lot on your plate andyou're a busy person.
But where could we directpeople to get to you if they
want to, like you know, get youand get your time?
Where can they, where can theygo to to get you?
Speaker 2 (56:42):
Yeah, so right here in the little blue bubble where
my name is, my my Web site isthe first place to go to, is
macro and paid dot com becausewe get paid as macro social
workers.
It's called macroandpaidcombecause we get paid as macro
social workers.
I don't know that wholewhatever the saying is impact
over income.
I don't even know it because Iknow what you're saying, we're
(57:03):
not in it.
Speaker 1 (57:04):
No, it doesn't apply to us.
Speaker 2 (57:06):
So we're macro and paid.
So the first place that youshould go to is there.
I have a free e-course.
It's the second link on mywebsite and it's the labor of
love.
It's my free gift to you.
It's where I break downeverything there is to know
about macro social work what itis, what it entails, job titles
(57:27):
because I know y'all love thosesalary ranges.
I give you some examples ofemployers, scope of work.
I even give you homework,because I wouldn't be the MSW
coach if I didn't give youhomework.
I give you a lot of resources,a lot of information to really
immerse yourself, to learn aboutthis other elusive side of the
social work profession, becauseI've demystified it.
(57:51):
Every myth, every lie, that'swhat I like to call it.
Every lie you've ever heardabout macro level work it's not
true, and I've demystified it.
Every myth, every lie, that'swhat I like to call it.
Every lie you've ever heardabout macro level work it's not
true and I've demystified it.
I've helped well over 180 socialworkers land macro jobs where
they have skilled, theirsalaries and their impact and
they're thriving, not just intheir job but outside of work
(58:12):
work.
We have had quite a few umcareer accelerator babies,
marriages, new home, becomingfirst-time home buyers.
My coaching clients travelinternationally and domestically
regularly.
The day I was on instagram andsaw one of my coaching clients
who landed a macro job.
She does sports, social, butshe landed a job in the macro
(58:34):
space around NCAA compliancebecause that's what she's
passionate about, and she was inAfrica glowing.
And another one of my coachingclients was in Greece the other
day.
So we really are thriving andthat's what I'm on a mission to
do is to help more change makersget into jobs where they can
get as proximate to power aspossible to create the small
(58:58):
changes that are needed toreally support the populations,
the issues that they're mostpassionate about.
So, if you're interested, atleast start with a free e-course
.
That's a great place to startto arm yourself with some
requisite information and then,in that, I give you links out to
my podcast.
I do have a podcast as well,but the e-course is the place to
(59:20):
start.
Speaker 1 (59:22):
Okay, well, I mean it sounds like you've got this
amazing ripple effect that'shappened with all your clients
and who knows, like, all thethings that they're about, all
the great things that they'regoing to do or are doing, have
done, man, I'm just that's,that's macro social work, right
there, I love that and uh, that,that, really, that lights a
fire in me.
You know, like I'm just likeman, I gotta do more.
(59:44):
You know, like I I'm no, yougot me fired up, so I appreciate
that so much.
Um, and, yeah, if anyone is isinterested in, uh, in working
with marthia, I mean just, Ican't say enough great things
about, about her.
So, uh, if you're listening,check out macro and paidcom, uh,
(01:00:05):
check out her youtube and, andI mean she's all over the place,
so you can't, you can't, avoidher at this point, she's
everywhere, which is awesome.
Um, so, all right, well, I mean, uh, I guess, uh, man, I don't
even know where else to go fromhere, but uh, I guess, uh, any
last parting words for for theaudience and yeah, we'll just
(01:00:25):
kind of end it from there, Iguess most definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
I would highly encourage you to be a part of
whatever joy is offering,because what and I was telling
someone this the other day whatwas pivotal for me was seeing my
numbers on paper, like how muchI needed to at least pay,
because my relationship withmoney ain't always been good,
(01:00:50):
because I didn't make money, um,so I used to have dread going
into my bank account because Iknew I had bounce checks in
there and all the differenttypes of things and severely
overdrafted.
I had years and years of doingpayday loans and just a bad
relationship with my money.
And I actually hired a budgetcoach because I didn't even like
(01:01:11):
to and it brought up a lot ofstuff for me.
I've had a lot of.
Also on your entrepreneurialjourney, gotta get a lot of
counseling because it brings upstuff.
But it would like give meanxiety and I would be on the
calls and she would be doing thespreadsheet for me.
She was like are you ready todo it yourself?
No, no, I don't know, I don'twant to look at it.
(01:01:32):
Um and so, but it was one daywe were meeting I'll never
forget.
It was two years ago at thispoint and she had calculated my
monthly expenses for that monthwe had went through when the
bills were going to be draftedand all of the things told her.
(01:01:55):
I was like one of my businesscoaches said I really need to
project to figure out how much Ineed to bring in my business to
fund my business and mypersonal life, where I can at
least be comfortable.
And I was like can you help medo that?
And she was like, yeah, I canhelp you do it.
And she's like an ex-bankingperson.
She's been years in banking soshe loves to whip up a good,
good Excel spreadsheet.
(01:02:16):
So she put it all together andshe was like this is how much
you need.
And when I saw it I was likethat's all I need.
I in my mind I thought it waslike thousands and thousands and
thousands of dollars, maybe agood, like high five figure
number.
And when I saw the number, Iwas good, like high five-figure
(01:02:37):
number.
And when I saw the number I waslike, oh, I can do that.
And ever since then I've beenhitting it and exceeding it and
it was something in the power ofseeing the number on the paper,
absolutely.
And it wasn't like, oh, I'mgoing to go create the goal.
It wasn't even that, it wasjust something in the power of
seeing the number that changedmy life, that made it more
(01:03:00):
realistic for me.
Speaker 1 (01:03:01):
If that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
So with that I would just say for those listening, if
your relationship with yourmoney ain't that great, because
I've been there, done that, Iwould encourage you to work on
it, because a lot of what keepsus from having more in our life
financially is the fear in theold systems that we've had to
adopt to live Like I'm veryclear with people, very
transparent with people like mylife has not been a golden light
pathway to Oz, not been a agolden light pathway to oz.
(01:03:39):
It's been filled with a lot ofturmoil, a lot being a formal, a
former um, houseless teenager,like all of the things, a young
mother.
It's just been filled with alot of hardship.
So I say that to say like I wasoperating on a lot of old
systems that kept me afloat,like I was really good, thriving
, but in order to learn new waysto live and new ways to operate
, I had to first look at mymoney and get a better
(01:04:02):
relationship with it.
So I love the work you're doing, so my thing that I would leave
is do whatever Joey tells youto do, because it does start
with your relationship with yourmoney.
And once you get comfortablewith your money, you then become
fearless, and I'm going to tellthis quick story.
Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
Joy because I love this story I told my friend.
Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
it probably was like a year or so ago.
I was coming up for renewal inmy apartment and normally I just
sign on whatever they send meLike.
I don't ask no questions,because it's like I don't want,
even though I'm making goodmoney.
At this point my mind was stillin lack, like I normally don't
do anything to rock the boat,even though I've like never been
(01:04:41):
kicked out or beat or anything,it's just always in a place of
lack.
So, the leasing agent sent therenewal notice and on the notice
she had the rate that wouldhave been my rate had I renewed
late.
But I didn't renew late and Iremember talking to her and I
was like and basicallyadvocating for myself on the
(01:05:04):
phone and I was like I'm notpaying that because I renewed
within the deadline and thatshould be corrected.
And she was telling me all thereasons as to why it wasn't
going to be changed, things likethat.
And I remember my phone sayingI'm not going to pay that so
I'll just wait for a managerfrom the corporate office to
call me.
And she didn't even get anybodyto call me.
(01:05:25):
She immediately just fixed itand sent me an email.
But I remember getting likegoing through that and then
being on a friend with one of myhome girls and I was like I
think something is happeningwith me.
I said because I would havenever done that, but now that my
money is good and I got moneyto go wherever I want, so even
if I have to leave here becausethey don't want to give me the
(01:05:47):
rate that I need, I know I havethe financial resources to do
that I show up bigger and bolder.
That's the point of that storyand.
I don't see people miss, becauseI know I have the money to fund
my life, and so money really isa tool to live, and your goal
doesn't have to be I want tomake millions, that is, that's
(01:06:08):
great, but your goal should atleast be to live comfortable and
to have the resources, thetools that you need to do that.
So I encourage you to look atyour money, do whatever Joey is
telling you and get you one goodjob or start your one good
business, and it will changeyour life.
Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
I love that.
I love that and I mean, likeyou mentioned earlier, you said
that you know, you don't, youdidn't want to deal with your
money but you outsourced it andyou found somebody that was kind
of willing to help with you.
So you know, in that sense,find a friend or a family member
that you know is really moneysavvy and ask them questions.
You know, just talk to them.
(01:06:48):
You'd be surprised.
Like they are willing to, theylove more likely they love
talking about money anyways.
Like they are willing to, theylove more likely they love
talking about money anyways.
So that's the kind of personthat you need to talk to and be
like they will talk your ear offto try to fix your finances for
you.
So just find somebody that'snerdy about money like me, and
then I will go through yournumbers and I will fix them for
(01:07:09):
you.
Speaker 2 (01:07:09):
That's a service, Joey.
Yes, let's monetize it yes.
When are you going to sell it?
Herpes, joey, let's monetize it?
Speaker 1 (01:07:15):
When are you going to sell it?
Well, I mean, I'm already doingfinancial coaching, but I don't
really advertise it that much.
Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Oh, sign up for Joey's coaching y'all
Immediately, oh man.
Speaker 1 (01:07:26):
All right.
Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
Yes.
I'm not really a great salesmanfor my own services.
Yeah, I'm going to have to giveJoey a pep talk when we end
this call.
Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
Oh man, all services.
So I'm gonna have to give joeya pep talk when we end this call
.
Oh man, all right.
Well, um, marthia, I mean thishas been a great conversation.
Uh, I don't even want it to end, but I know you're a busy
person.
Uh, I've got a littlefive-year-old that's probably
looking for, uh, some daddy time, so, um, so, yeah, I think
that's a good time, a good spotto end it on.
But, once again, thank you foryour time.
I know your time is veryimportant and you know, just
(01:08:01):
once again, all the peoplelistening check out
macroandpaidcom, do theire-course.
You know, book her if you feelso inclined.
I hope you do.
But that's going to be it forthis show, this episode.
Stay tuned for more episodesand if you're a social worker
and you're interested in beingon the show, uh, just hit me up,
send me a direct message andwe'll take it from there.
(01:08:23):
But, uh, that's pretty mucheverything.
Um, I appreciate it, marthea,and uh, we will catch you guys
on the next stream.
Speaker 2 (01:08:32):
Bye.
All right, hello everybody.
This is the Fire Social WorkerShow.
Welcome, welcome.
Looks like Marthea, you'remuted.
Let me go ahead and go livehere.
Okay, there we go.
I am the fire social worker andI'm a certified financial social
(00:24):
worker, just passionate abouttalking finances and passionate
about social work, and I'm justexcited to kind of spread the
gospel about personal finance.
And so I have a special guestwith me today.
I have Ms Marthia Pitts.
You might know her as the MSWcoach.
I mean, honestly, she's got somany irons in the fire.
(00:48):
I actually, if you don't mind,I'm going to go through some of
the accolades that you'veaccomplished so far.
I'll talk you up a little bit.
Okay, sorry.
So this is actually fromChatGPT.
People don't know that you canactually set ChatGPT as your
default search engine now, whichis kind of interesting, but
anyway.
(01:08):
So I actually just put you into ChatGPT and it came up with.
Marthea Pitts is a distinguishedworkforce development center
career counselor andmacro-focused social worker
specializing in program designand policy.
The lead founder and leadconsultant of MSW Coach, a
career consulting company thatcollaborates with governmental
(01:30):
agencies, community-basedorganizations and educational
institutions to enhance careerpathways for undersourced
populations.
And you know like I'm going topost this in the show notes, but
there's four more paragraphs,so a decade of career experience
assisted more than 150 socialworkers.
(01:50):
A PhD candidate at Florida A&MUniversity consulting work Like
you have your own podcast.
You have a YouTube channel,like I mean.
My question for you is justlike when do you sleep?
Like, how do you?
How do you function?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Actually, I think I was well prepared for this
entrepreneurial journey, becauseI didn't always have the most
ideal jobs.
I spent a lot more years beingseverely overworked, so I'm kind
of I've kind of been trainedthe hard way for it okay well,
we're going to go into a littlebit of your backstory, um, you
(02:30):
know, because this is, uh, youknow this.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
This is for social workers, but it's for everybody
too, so there are some aspiringsocial workers that watch and
listen.
So, uh, just tell us a littlebit about you know, what
inspired you to get into socialwork, and a little bit about
your backstory, but what got youto where you are.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, most definitely .
Hey, hey, hey, my name isMarthea Pitts.
I'm known on the social workstreets as the MSW coach, and my
journey to social work was notone that I took willingly.
I started off working in stategovernment and call center
positions, to be exact, inregulatory specialist roles.
(03:06):
So I was the person that, whenyou call a state agency to like
find out, maybe, about yourchild support case, or to submit
a report to the abuse hotline,or to find out about social
workers getting reciprocity oflicensure in the state of
Florida, I was the person youtalked to.
And so what that looks like wasevery day, day in, day out, me
(03:30):
talking to hundreds of peoplefrom all walks of life.
But more than that, it alsolooked like me being heavily
reliant on state laws, policiesand statutesutes and reading
them in large amounts tointerpret how to assist the
caller, and so the questionswould be a range of things, but
(03:53):
I had to use my resources, whichwere the laws, the regulatory
laws and policies, to answertheir questions.
And so I believe that thoseearly years working in call
centers have been foundationalin my career and where it is now
, because in those roles Ilearned to read, interpret and
(04:14):
apply very complex technicalinformation and dissemin can
talk to anybody and they willunderstand a complex thing and
it honestly came from the yearsworking on the front lines.
I can talk to the blue collarworker and I can talk to the
senior executive leaders andI've done that in all of my
positions.
(04:35):
And so my journey into socialwork again was not willing.
I didn't dream of being asocial worker.
I actually had a good friend ofmine at the time who was not a
social worker.
She had a psychology background.
However, she worked in a lot ofsocial service agencies and for
years Joey, I mean years shewould tell me Marthea, you would
(04:58):
be a great social worker,you've been through a lot, like
you could really help the people.
I was like, no, I don't want tobe a social worker, because my
understanding of a social workeris very skewed at the time from
working in social serviceagencies again at those state
agencies and working with socialservice workers, I always
(05:19):
thought those were socialworkers.
And then my only likeconnection point to that was in
the child welfare system which Iworked at, the abuse hotline.
So I wasn't going to people'shouses but I would always say
like no, I don't want to takepeople's keys.
I thought that's how socialworkers did so.
After years, like years, of herencouraging me to do the thing,
(05:40):
I finally did it.
And it it was, and I made thedecision to do it.
During the year I took a careersabbatical for my call center
jobs because I was severelyburnt out.
It's only so much talking thatan introvert can do before it
negatively impacts you.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
So I had to shout out to the introverts it's.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's a lot of work sometimes yeah, and I didn't
even know what was going on.
And so I took a year-longcareer sabbatical and during
that time I got very clear onthat I was supposed to become a
social worker.
So I enrolled in my Master's ofSocial Work degree program at
the Florida A&M University.
I went and taught.
(06:22):
Well, before I enrolled I wentand taught to the department
chairs and I taught, learnedabout their program and that it
wasn't a clinical program.
It was an administrative trackprogram, meaning they prepare
you to be like leaders of socialservice agencies, nonprofits,
things like that, which wasgreat for me because at that
time my career goal was tostreamline the delivery of the
(06:47):
social services, like in thoseorganizations that I worked in,
because I saw so many issueswith how the service was being
provided that I was like I'mgoing to go and change the face
of social service delivery.
And so when I learned about theprogram, I was like this is
what I need, and so I enrolledand my world was shifted.
(07:08):
I experienced the hugest and thelargest paradigm shift at that
time for where I was in my ownpersonal life as far as economic
injustice.
(07:30):
I lived in a city, tallahassee,florida, that was identified to
be the most economicallysegregated city in the nation in
2017.
And so all of this is like acombination of things I didn't
share with you all that, like Iwas always a non-traditional
student.
I started out working on my AAdegree, and it was in a
(07:50):
community my associative artsdegree and it was in a community
college sociology class that Imade the discovery that the
things I was experiencing in mylife was not a result of
something being inherently wrongwith me, but it was a result of
me being impacted by theseinvisible systems.
I always thought that myinability to get a good paying
(08:12):
job was because I just couldn'tget one, but what I didn't take
into account was my inability toget a good paying job because I
didn't have reliabletransportation.
I lived in a city that doesn'thave mass transportation.
I didn't have reliable childcare.
I had a lot of didn't haves,and so it was in that sociology
(08:35):
class when the sociology adjunctprofessor was talking about
these systems, I was like, oh mygosh, that is the story of my
life.
And so when I enrolled in theMSW degree program and my
professors were talking to usabout the importance of being a
watchdog in policy.
(08:56):
Again, it wasn't a macrospecific program but, because
it's a program at a historicallyBlack college and university,
they talked to us about theimportance of addressing the
root cause issues, or theproblems that we see in our
potential clients, and so it wasa combination of all of those
things in addition to me workingin a workforce development
(09:21):
center at the time as aworkforce development career
counselor that it really put abattery on my back um, in my
back to be more preventionfocused rather than intervention
so I really say that I feellike I didn't become, because I
didn't graduate until like threeyears into that job, because I
(09:46):
took a longer pace track,because I could only do two
classes at a time.
But it wasn't until like I wasin that role and in my MSW
degree program did I reallyunderstand the magnitude of the
profession that I had chosen andthat my role was going to be
way bigger than just givingpeople some bus passes and some
(10:08):
child care.
So I'll stop there, but that'smy journey into social work.
But yeah, I didn't come here afree will at first, but yeah,
I'm actually kind of in asimilar boat too.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
My experience with social work was similar.
I had my bachelor's inpsychology and then a social
worker.
I was working at a stateresidential facility for acute
psychiatrics and a social workertook me under her wing and she
was like you're going to be asocial worker, you know like.
She just was like reallyadamant about that.
So, Mary Stacy, if you're outthere, if you're listening I
(10:48):
know she's around, she's stillgrinding, but she actually ended
up being my supervisor for myinternship too.
So, yeah, so just a greatinfluence.
So shout out to all the socialworkers that are turning other
people into future socialworkers.
But yeah, it's like, onceyou're in, you're like everyone
(11:08):
should be a social worker.
Everyone can be a social worker.
If you think about it, I mean,well, okay, maybe let me take
that back a little bit, yeah,but yeah, I think we should all
be caring for other humans.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Thank you Very much so, very much so, but yeah, so,
so that's a really man like.
There's a lot to you know.
It just sounds like you.
You were built for macro socialwork from the very beginning,
almost, you know, like, but youdidn't even know that it was
really a thing, did you?
So it's really crazy how allthat, how that kind of
transpired so.
(11:43):
So I guess I'm sure some it'sreally crazy how all that kind
of transpired.
So I guess I'm sure somequestions are going to come up
of like so how do I get in macrosocial work?
If you wanted to start from theground floor, you know, let's
say they're bachelors, they havea bachelor's degree and they
want to get their master's insocial work Maybe, what would
you tell them?
To give them some advice onbecoming a macro social worker?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Yeah, my biggest advice is to become a subject
matter expert.
So my name before likeofficially landing my first
macro job was synonymous withthe person who know how to get
people jobs in the workforcedevelopment system.
I won two statewide awards andone national award because I was
(12:26):
doing the impossible in myregion.
I didn't realize it was such abig deal.
And I didn't understand at thattime why the CEO and the
national directors and theregional leaders were making
such a big deal about my jobplacements.
It wasn't until years later,when I left that position and I
learned about my city being themost economically segregated
(12:47):
city in the nation, that Iunderstand the magnitude of what
I was doing.
So with that, what with that,that time in that center made me
a subject matter expert onconnecting under-resourced
populations and communities withquality employment.
And so what I say to socialworkers who are still in case
(13:11):
management, direct practice jobs, is to find the thing that
you're good at and build a brandaround that and you will
forever be paid.
And it's hard for socialworkers to do that, especially
when you're in case managementroles, because you're required
to be the Jack and Jill ofeverything under the sun.
They want you to move the sofasand bake the turkeys and get in
(13:34):
counseling and do the thingsright.
And so, for a lot of socialworkers, they cannot process the
thought of focusing on onething because they become so
accustomed to being overworked.
But my tip is find one thing,become really, really good at
that thing and make certain thateverybody knows that that's
(13:55):
your thing and don't just pick arandom thing off the list.
Find the thing that makes youexcited, like like me.
You could tell I'm gettingexcited when I and joey, I'm
sure you've been on the live ofmine when I'm talking about jobs
.
I'll kick into a whole anothergear, right, because I have a
personal connection to years ofnot having good jobs, and so I
(14:18):
understand how one good job canchange your life.
That's why I'm so excited totalk to you about the FIRE
movement.
So find something that you like, because a lot of social
workers have settled in theircareers and they're doing things
that they don't like, that theyactually can't tolerate, only
(14:38):
because someone told them youcan make good money doing it.
But when I start talking tothem about how much money
they're making and I'm makinggood money and their, their
career satisfaction is in thedumps they're racing in the
dumps.
So I would say find your onething.
Make certain that it'ssomething that you are super
passionate about.
(14:59):
And that's how you create acareer lane for yourself.
And that's how you create acareer lane for yourself.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Yeah, I know, I will say just from personal
experience too, like when youget into social work and I
didn't know much about the fieldthat much to begin with.
But the field is so broad, youknow, like there's so many
different directions you can godown, which is both a good and a
bad thing depending on how youlook at it.
Like I'm kind of a paralysisanalysis kind of person.
(15:26):
Sometimes if I have too manychoices, I don't know what to go
down, what path to go down, andthen a lot of times I feel like
sometimes people or social work, new social workers, fresh
grads, they take what they canget, and I was in that situation
too.
It was like I had bills to pay,I needed a job and so I took
the first, basically the firstplace that would hire me.
But you know, that's, that's, Iguess that's kind of part of
(15:47):
the industry now.
But hopefully, with youradvocacy and just trying to push
for, you know, higher wages forsocial workers across the board
, you know, maybe we won't, wewon't have this, we won't have
to worry about this.
You know conversation, this,you know conversation, but it is
definitely a concern for a lotof social workers and you know,
(16:08):
I think you mentioned in some ofyour streams that they're even
talking about this at the schoollevel of, like you know, don't
expect to make a whole lot ofmoney.
You know, like they're they'repriming you for this and that's
just.
I just feel like that's justwrong.
And, you know, hopefully, likeI said, we can change the
narrative and change the numbers.
I mean, let's be real, we gotto change the numbers, but yeah,
(16:30):
so Let me add something to that.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
That's a great point that you just made Right.
So I am a systems thinker.
I had to acknowledge that.
So one of the things that Ialways really push for people is
yes, we would like for thesystem to change.
We would like for the narrativeto change around.
Social workers made little tono money and that's just the way
(16:52):
it's going to be.
However, we got to create aworkaround because that's not
going to happen tomorrow.
It might not even happen in thenext decade or two.
So my work around to students,especially if I could like wave
a magical wand, it would be thatwhen you are in your education
degree program, remember why youwent to go get a degree.
(17:16):
It was to go get a better job.
Yes, for people who have, likefamily support systems, who are
well off, they go to school justto learn how to critically
think and learn all day.
However, for many of us, we'regoing as a means to an end, to
go and increase our salaryearning potential.
However, what I see a lot ofpeople do is get wrapped up in
(17:39):
the idea of being a traditionalstudent, where I just go to
school and I just focus on mystudies and that is just it.
No, you should also be keepingin the forefront that the goal
is to not just walk across thestage with your degree.
It's also to walk across thestage with a job offer in your
hand, and so, in order to dothat, you have to be very
(18:01):
strategic, from even the firststep of choosing the degree
program, about the steps thatyou're going to be taking to
ensure that you get that.
So that it looks like whatdegree program?
Is this an in-demand degreeprogram?
Do they have job placement?
Is it guaranteed job placement?
What is their relationship withemployers?
(18:22):
Do they have a robustrelationship with, like a system
of employers that have graduatedegree pathway?
I mean graduate pathways whereI can go straight into a job.
The internships and practicumsites that you're choosing A lot
of students and I've had theopportunity to talk to thousands
at this point all around theworld, thousands at this point
(18:46):
all around the world they gointo, like the practicum
internship which we know everysocial work student has to do
that in some way, shape form orfashion, and they go into it
with.
I'm just checking the box.
My word of advice for you is tonot do that, because your
internship should be preparingyou with the experience you need
to get the type of job that youwant.
So if you let the people tellyou we only have five the
experience you need to get thetype of job that you want.
So if you let the people tellyou we only have five sites and
(19:09):
you have to pick from this list,you already are going the wrong
way.
Turn around, go back and startadvocating for yourself and let
the people know no, I want topractice on site that does blah,
blah, blah, even if thatrequires you to go and do the
lead like, and it's not even therelevant experience but the
(19:46):
requisite knowledge to get thejobs that they want right.
And so what that comes from isnot having adequate experiential
learning opportunities.
That means you just tookwhatever they gave you and so
you really set yourself up forfailure, or let them set you up
for failure.
So you have to really be yourown advocate, so I love that you
(20:11):
brought that up.
My theme for students would bebe your first client.
Don't wait until you're in thefield.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I like that.
That's a good quote right there.
Your first client.
I like that.
You gotta trademark that one.
That's awesome.
Yeah, because I mean, like Isaid, I started listening to
podcasts about social work whenI was in grad school and I wish
I wish someone like I wish I'dstumbled upon that nugget of
wisdom because I was the sameway I, just I just along with.
(20:42):
Well, we only have so manyplaces for practicums, so I just
did what I could and I tookwhat I could get.
But, looking back on it, Icould have advocated and really
fought for, okay, I want to dothis in this field and I'm
willing to move mountains to getthere Because, like you said,
it sets you up.
(21:03):
It's like a domino effect ofgood things.
So that's some great, greatadvice.
So I appreciate you bringingthat up.
Well, so, so you got a lot onyour plate and, uh, you know,
you went from like, uh, macro,and then now you're kind of,
you're doing the entrepreneurialthing.
Are you still doing macro workor are you just purely
(21:25):
entrepreneurial at this point?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I'm full-time in my business, I consider myself to
be a social entrepreneur, andthat my work is is still on the
macro level, um and?
But I'm also a current phdcandidate, so right now I'm
fully engrossed in the researchproposal phase.
Joey, let's don't ask, don'task me a question about that PhD
program.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
You probably don't even want to think of those
letters PhD anymore, and it's amessage that started yesterday.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
One person, somebody's podcast.
I went on and she asked me allof the questions.
It was a Friday.
I was like I don't want tothink about that, but no yeah.
So I'm a current PhD-time phdcandidate, so I'm focused on
that right now but yeah, I havea career goal with that my goal
is.
I have some long-term careergoals.
(22:14):
I won't get too far into it,but I will return to the
workforce at some point.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah okay all right, but in the meantime you're,
you're also mentoring andcoaching and doing all this like
you're, basically you're,you're single handedly helping
the social profession, like allthese new, all these
entrepreneurial social workers.
Because I mean, like let's bereal, you know we got to pay the
(22:40):
bills and you know we do have agood amount of skill sets and
that that is marketable.
So can you, can you talk to anyaspiring entrepreneurial social
workers and maybe give themsome advice on how to get
started?
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, I actually just started another coaching
program.
So I have two tracks to mybusiness.
I have a track for socialworkers who want to stay in a
nine to five job.
I have the micro to macrocareer accelerator program, and
that's the program where I teachthem in three months or less
how to identify, apply,interview for their dream macro
(23:16):
social work job.
But then on the other track, Ihave those who want to become
mission driven entrepreneurs,and so that program is called
Passion to Profit and it'scurrently a six-week program and
it's where I take them throughthe process of learning how to
ideate a business, like how tocome up with a business idea
(23:40):
based solely on theirintellectual property, the stuff
they have up here.
Because when I started mybusiness journey, the problem
that I kept coming against wasthat I came into contact with a
lot of what I like to calluniversal entrepreneurs, people
who were not mission driven, whoI like Joey knows I like to
(24:01):
talk real, regular, like peoplewho will sell their soul for a
dollar, and I was like all moneyand good money, I don't.
I don't want to sell my cat fora dollar, like I don't want to
sell my dog for a dollar.
I don't know.
I need to have meaningful, likea meaning or why, behind what
I'm doing, and so I came upagainst a lot of walls.
(24:22):
I spent a lot of money a lot ofmoney on business coaching and
what I realized was there was avery distinct difference between
a mission driven entrepreneurand a universal entrepreneur.
So what I've done is because ofthe years.
I've been asked occasionally bysocial workers to like tell
them how to start a business,and my response was always like
(24:44):
I'm trying to figure it outmyself.
The only thing I can tell youis vet your business coach right
, because I've invested a lot ofmoney in business coaching.
That was the benefit of havinga good job, a good macro job.
My employer was the silentinvestor in my business, so that
was the only thing I waswilling to tell people is I was
(25:05):
still trying to figure it out onmy own.
However, I'm at the point nowwhere I figured it out and it
works for me as a mission-drivenentrepreneur and it aligns with
my owner's intent.
I work really hard not to be atype A personality person which
I had to be in call centers.
You had to be perfect all thetime or you would be called out
(25:28):
about your errors in publicforums.
So I worked really hard toshift from the orange on the
colors personality assessment.
I'm now a blue and I don't everwant to go back to that.
So I say that because mybusiness aligns with that.
Like I'm very big on moving inaligned flow, I don't do work
(25:49):
that I don't want to do.
I don't work with people that Idon't want to work with.
I only do things that feel goodto my soul.
So I started Passion to Profitto teach other social workers
how to create aligned businessesas well yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, that's definitely something that that I
want to explore too.
Um, you know, because I think Icommented on one of your your
instagram videos of like uh, youknow, said something about your
dream macro job, and I was like, well, what if my dream macro
job doesn't exist?
you know, because I want to be amacro financial social worker
and I was like, well, what if mydream macro job doesn't exist?
You know, because I want to bea macro, financial social worker
and I want to change the thelike.
(26:27):
You know, like my, my bigvision is to change financial
literacy for the good and, andyou know, make it accessible and
all that other stuff.
But, like, as far as I know Imean I'm sure there are policy
level jobs that deal withfinancial literacy and I've done
a little bit of research intothat but uh, but yeah, like, so
it, what, what?
What would you say to somebodywho's like, maybe has this lofty
(26:47):
vision?
Um, and then they, you know,like they don't know where to
even start yeah, I would firstsay that there's no one better
than you, right?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
so that's why I was like it's time to start this,
which it was always a part of myplan to eventually teach social
workers how to be consultants.
However, what I've found overmy last five years in my
entrepreneurial journey is thatmy impact is greater outside of
the system.
It's not to say that I won'tever which I do consult with
(27:16):
organizations, but I find that Iam most impactful outside of
the system working with thefuture generation of leaders in
my coaching, my career, coachingbusiness.
So what I would say to you, orsomeone like that, is you most
definitely need clarity aroundwhat it is, how you want your,
(27:39):
what you want your owner'sintent of your business to be
right.
So what happens is how you wantyour, what you want your
owner's intent of your businessto be right.
So what happens is sometimespeople just make the goal
revenue when in reality, that'snot the real reason why they
started their business.
Some people may start theirbusiness to have time freedom.
Others may start it to haveautonomy.
Others may start to haveautonomy.
(27:59):
Others may start to createbigger impact.
So, with all that I just sayget clear on what your owner's
intent is for your business andthen design a business based off
of that.
And be very careful and this iswhat I teach my coaching
clients in the first cycle ofpassion, the first cohort of
passion of profit cohort ofpassion of profit be very
(28:24):
careful about the voices thatyou listen to, because the most
dominant voices in, like thebusiness space online, are
universal entrepreneurs and theywill lead you off a cliff and
they will have you tryingeverything under the sun and
it's not going to work for youbecause you're different.
So you first want to haveclarity around your owner's
intent why you want yourbusiness, how you want your
(28:46):
business to feel, who you wantyour business to serve, and then
also like who is your idealclient?
Who do you want to work with?
Want to work with?
So what I've seen over the years, when social workers would jump
in my inbox and ask me abouthelping them start a business,
(29:06):
one of the biggest issues that Isaw repeatedly was that they
were approaching their businessdevelopment the way they have to
show up in their social workcareer.
So in your micro social workcareer, you have to work with
the most under-resourcedpopulations and communities.
However, when you are in abusiness that does not translate
(29:26):
to dollars because those peoplewon't be able to pay your fees
right.
So you have to get verycreative and clear around who
will pay your fee and understandthat you are running a
for-profit business and not anon-profit.
That's another thing where Isee social workers struggle.
(29:47):
They run their business like anon-profit.
Um, and a lot of them also.
Like you mentioned earlier,there are tons of social work
entrepreneurs online.
However, they run theirbusiness like it's just a hobby,
when my belief is, if you'repouring your sweat equity, your
(30:08):
intellectual property, thethings that you became very
knowledgeable about over theyears, you should be adequately
compensated for that.
So I see a lot of socialworkers approaching their
business like they do theirsocial work career and it's
sometimes hard for them to puttheir business hat on.
And again, talking about howthe dots connect, my undergrad
(30:32):
degree is in business andmarketing.
I wanted to work in corporate.
I used to do hair back in theday and I was like I want to do
marketing for a hair carecompany.
But I understand now like thatwas a dot that was preparing me
for where I am now.
So a lot of social workersstruggle with putting the
business hat on.
So with my current coachingclients and Passion of Profit is
(31:01):
really helping them think froma business mindset.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So, yeah, I hope I answered your question
Absolutely and actually it makesme think I've talked about this
with other social workers toois that you know, a lot of us
entrepreneurial social workersare driven by the lower pay and,
like you said, all thosefactors, but then in social work
school, like they don't teachus business stuff, you know, and
(31:24):
this is common in the mentalhealth and mental health world
too, like you know, therapistsdon't really know how to run a
business necessarily.
So so, yeah, I definitely feelthat and I'm I'm kind of, I feel
not not attacked, but I do feellike you were talking about me
and a lot of that what you weresaying, but in a good way,
because it's like I've learnedsome of those things too.
(31:45):
I've learned some lessons thehard way.
I've consulted with some, youknow, business coaches that
didn't have my best interests atheart and so, yeah, so I guess
I would just say, you know, ormaybe we could talk about for
those entrepreneurial socialworkers, yeah, like you said to,
to kind of drill down on yourvision, but then you're also
(32:10):
going to have to potentially, um, you know, strengthen a muscle
that you don't even have, orbuild a muscle, you know so.
So business mind is I don'thave a business mind, or like
when you say, put on yourbusiness hat, I'm like, well, I
don't, there's a hat.
I didn't know there was a hat,so but yeah, so like I'm
learning that stuff like kind oflike painfully sometimes, but
(32:32):
but like I'm just grateful thatthere are people like you out
there that are actually givingback and like sharing your
knowledge, cause you have a veryunique background and
experience.
That so, um, yeah, I just, youknow, I just hope that, um,
somehow people will find theirway to you much sooner in their
careers.
Um, then, you know, like,because I'm only I've been a
(32:54):
social worker for a little overa year and I'm already looking,
you know, like many steps ahead.
But I think that there'sprobably a lot of social workers
out there and aspiring socialworkers who who maybe feel
overwhelmed and they don't, youknow, they're just like you know
.
But going back to that analysisprocess, you know like there's
(33:14):
too many, too many trajectoriesthat you can go, go on, that.
You can go, go on, um, but yeah, I mean, uh, I think you know
you've given some really justgreat nuggets so far and I just
uh, and I just I just appreciatelike I should have had you on,
like, uh, since day one, youknow, on this on the show, but,
uh, probably gonna have to haveyou on multiple times if, if,
(33:36):
well, whenever your schedule isopen, because I know that's
going to be a crazy, crazy thingto try to navigate, but yeah,
so, okay.
So we were talking about alittle bit about the FIRE
movement and you know, obviously, as the FIRE social worker, I'm
big on personal finance.
I'm big on the FIRE movementand you know part of my whole,
(33:57):
you know mission statement ormission is to try to help people
with their finances, but thenalso document, like, okay, I'm
on my own mid-journey of fireand you know what, you know what
does that look like?
And but you know like what, asfar as your like, do you have
any good financial advice, youknow, for social workers that
(34:17):
you would like to impart?
Speaker 2 (34:18):
maybe, and we can talk about that a little bit-
yeah, my piece of advice is getyour one good paying job and it
will change your life.
And because what I see is a lotof social workers go about
their job search by looking atwhat are the credentials
required for the job and nottaking into account, like, what
(34:43):
do they need for the totality oftheir life, right?
So I talk about that in thecontext of looking at every area
of your life, but specificallyfinancial Right.
And so how you do that is bynot just looking at the salary
but looking at the compensationpackages.
By not just looking at thesalary but looking at the
(35:03):
compensation packages.
Are they robust enough tosupport how you want to live,
how you need to live?
What does the 401k match looklike?
Is there an investment optionwhere they'll give you a piece
of the company?
For the therapy clinicians I'mnot clinical Joey, so I
sometimes use the words wrong,but I know they love to work
(35:25):
with mental health tech startupsyou need to be looking at.
Are they going to give you apiece of that company?
You need to be looking at, likewhat are the healthcare
benefits?
These are the things that Iteach my coaching clients before
they even hit apply.
We don't do it once the joboffer is made and you're on a
job and then you find out thishealth insurance is trash.
(35:46):
We all, as subcase workers,have worked at a nonprofit where
the health insurance wascomplete trash.
I worked at one.
So, these are things that youare supposed to be looking at
before you even hit apply and Iteach my coaching clients that
because it impacts your life.
And then, even outside of thecompensation package, what are
(36:07):
like the time off benefits, likePTO, lead policy, things like
that sick leave policy?
You also want to look at thethings that are not tangible to
physical dollars.
What does the work from homepolicy look like?
Well, do they give you tuitionreimbursement?
Will they cover your tuitioncosts?
(36:29):
Do they have tuition waivers?
Like all of those years that Istayed in state government, that
was a strategic move.
It wasn't just because I loveit here, it was because they
were paying for my schooling.
A lot of it I had to pay out ofpocket because I flunked out
miserably when I first went outof high school, but a lot of it
was waived by my state and itwas strategic.
Like I learned that the statewill pay for you to go back to
(36:52):
school.
I'm going over there.
Say less what I need to do,right, so things like that.
So I would say that get you onegood job and don't be short
sighted.
That's why I say you have tolook at more than just the
salary.
I had a.
I did a podcast recordingyesterday or the day before with
(37:14):
one of my micro to macro careeraccelerator alum.
That's my career coachingprogram and his name is Alec.
That's my career coachingprogram and his name is Alec,
and he was talking about howhe's thriving in his life and
this is the most money he's evermade and how he's able to pay
all of his monthly bills out ofone paycheck.
I said, doesn't that feel good?
I remember when that firsthappened to me with my first
(37:35):
macro job.
I was like what is going onhere and you still have money
left over you have money to save, you have money to invest Right
.
One good paying job will changeyour life, and so that's what I
encourage for people on theirfinancial journey.
Instead of looking at 50million different side hustles
(37:57):
which social workers like to dodo find you one good quality job
and put, put, put your efforts,your soul into that job.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Basically, yeah, because I think we do get
distracted.
Shiny object syndrome, you knowthis this new thing is is
popping off.
So yeah, I definitely feel that, um and uh, you know, that's
some, some great, great advicetoo.
Oh, another thing that Ithought of while you were
talking was supervision forsocial workers that are trying
(38:29):
to get their LCSW.
Some companies will pay, or atleast reimburse you, and I'm
actually working on that rightnow with my companies that
they're going to.
You know, some places havein-house supervision which will
go towards your clinical hoursand it's all already, you know,
in-house, so that's easy.
But then some companies willpay or reimburse you for
(38:51):
supervision hours towards yourLCSW.
So, um, yeah, just littlethings like that.
You know, like I would havenever thought to ask that, but
I've started asking that in myinterviews.
I'm like you know like what?
What are some of these otherfringe benefits or intangibles
like you're saying?
um so, yeah, it's definitely youwant to go in there fully
informed to your, to yourinterviews, like knowing,
(39:13):
knowing the market, knowing howmuch you're worth um.
But speaking of knowing howmuch you're worth um, do you get
any tips for um this?
You know tips for socialworkers in the negotiation space
, because I'm a little, I'm notthe greatest negotiator, but I'm
getting better.
So what are some good tips forit?
Speaker 2 (39:32):
And that's what popped up in my mind when you
were talking about that.
Most definitely, negotiateeverything, negotiate, negotiate
, negotiate.
I know a lot of social workerslike to tell y'all to network
for jobs.
I don't teach networking, butwhat I do say is negotiate,
negotiate, negotiate.
Um.
And so what I?
I give a resource to mycoaching clients, um of the AAUW
(39:55):
, which is an organization thatteaches you.
They have a self-paced coursethat teaches you how to do
salary negotiations and it'sworked for my coaching clients.
I have coaching clients thathave negotiated their salaries
over like $30,000 more than whatwas initially being offered.
(40:16):
So it works and it's free.
But most definitely negotiateeverything.
If they're unwilling which formacro employers, because that's
what I specialize in they'realways open to negotiate because
their budgets are much biggerthan micro employers.
But if you're interviewing fora micro job and they're like we
don't have any money, then findsomething else to negotiate.
(40:37):
Maybe you can negotiate aflexible schedule.
Maybe you can negotiate aflexible schedule.
There was a point where I moved,when I moved from state
government to my workforcedevelopment job, that wasn't in
the state government systemanymore.
One of the things that I wasable to negotiate on campus in
my class at 5 pm, right, insteadof getting off at 5 pm and then
(41:15):
getting here at 530, because myprofessors did not tolerate
being late, and so that issomething that I negotiated and,
again, it wasn't tangibledollars, but it's resulted in
more dollars for me in mylifetime earning potential,
because it allowed me to go getmy degree, and I made a lot of
money for that degree.
So you have to not, you can'tjust be short sighted and I say
(41:36):
that because I've been therebefore where you're just trying
to pay the bills.
But one thing I've learnedabout social workers, though, is
that you all are very ambitious.
You're high achievers, the onesthat you know.
Connect with me If you'velistened this long to this
episode that means you connectto something that we're talking
about.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
One thing.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
I know about you you are a high achiever, so with
that you have lots of goals foryourself.
So again, if you can'tnegotiate the pay, lots of goals
for yourself.
So again, if you can'tnegotiate the pay, negotiate
something else.
Joey just gave a good exampleof supervision hours.
Maybe, like for me, when I went, it was my own.
I only had two case managementjobs.
(42:13):
So my second case managementjob was at a DV shelter where I
was a transitional housingprogram coordinator and I
managed three scattered sitehousing sites and so I
specifically took that jobbecause it gave me the
flexibility to create my ownschedule.
All right.
And so why that was important tome is because my daughter at
(42:36):
the time was getting ready toenter 11th grade and she had
already created the educationplan of doing dual enrollment
enter 11th grade and she hadalready created the education
plan of doing dual enrollment.
In 11th grade we do annualfamily planning.
She told me that ninth gradeand 11th grade I'm going to be
doing dual enrollment to becomea certified pastry chef.
So I had it on my career planbefore the end of 10th grade
(43:01):
that I will get another jobwhere I have flexibility to
leave and come as I want,because I would have to pick her
up in the middle of the dayfrom high school and take her
over to the college campus andthen pick her up before the end
of my work shift and take herback home, and that was
important to me as a singleparent.
So, again, negotiation isn'talways dollars and the value of
(43:25):
that alone.
If I had to put a dollar amountto it, it's out of this world,
because now my daughter is apastry chef.
She's had multiple jobs.
She went to college to, youknow, get a business degree
around it, so it was invaluable.
So if they can't negotiate withyou in dollars, there's
something else that you needflexibility on and don't be
(43:47):
afraid to ask for it, especiallybecause, again, the people that
engage with me, you all, aresuperstars and it's time to
leverage that superstar stuff,that star power that you're
giving off at your job.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Well, I mean I will say from all the social workers
that I've come across, you knowit takes a special kind of
person to basically step up andwant to do something like this,
because it's not always, it'skind of a thankless job
sometimes, but it's also veryfulfilling and rewarding and
then, especially for a lot ofpeople knowing that you're not
going to get paid that muchmoney respective to other jobs
(44:25):
with a master's degree.
So it, yeah, it does take acertain kind of person, and I've
just been a big advocate sincethe beginning of you know
companies need to start steppingup and paying social workers
their fair share.
You know we're highly educated,we're diverse, talented and
driven and just big-heartedpeople usually.
(44:48):
So, yeah, it sounds like you'vegot a whole dynasty going on in
your household.
Your daughter's thinking fouryears ahead of time.
That's impressive.
Better watch out, because thePitts family is going to be
knocking on doors here soon.
(45:08):
That's crazy.
That's impressive.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
I'm a huge advocate for career plans.
You need a plan.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
Even if it's a baby plan, you need a plan.
Yeah, very first day of school,of grad school, is like all
right, what, what do you want tospecialize in?
And at that point I was like Idon't know, I don't know yet,
you know, but I think they weretrying to get us to think about
okay, yeah, you're gonna need tokind of specialize a little bit
, like you're saying, and becomea subject matter expert, and I
think a lot, of, a lot of socialworkers and maybe just young
(45:50):
people in general, they don'treally know what they want to do
just yet, or they, you know.
But yeah, so it's.
It's just really cool to see,like you know, your, your
skillset in action, not just foryourself and your clients, but
even your daughter.
Like, I mean, I'm just blownaway, I'm just, I can't, I don't
know words, but I'm just, yeah,I'm just a big, I guess, a fan
(46:15):
boy at this point.
Respect the game, I guess.
One thing I did want to askabout is a little bit I don't
know a little meta, but thefuture of social work.
Let's say, somebody's jumpinginto social work or they're
thinking about social work.
Do you see anything happening,like with the world of, like AI
(46:36):
and things like that.
Like, do you think that we youknow, social work, young social
workers need to be, like,well-versed in AI, or what do
you think about that?
Speaker 2 (46:45):
Yeah, I don't believe in coincidences, but the same
interview that I talked aboutdoing with one of my alum of my
program, alec.
The job that he landed was as alearning specialist for data
governance and so, and what Iwas talking to him about, which
he already knew there fromworking with me data sharing is
(47:07):
a hot button issue for nationalemployers, national macro
organizations right, becauseeveryone's interested in helping
to or trying to figure out howto solve these bigger issues,
the systems level issues.
However, they are extremelyconcerned with how people's
(47:30):
information is going to beprotected and used.
Information is going to beprotected and used, so most
definitely social workers.
That's interested in, like datagovernance, and even the
integration of AI to helpstreamline services and
organizations and businesses isgoing to be on the rise.
I always I love a good casestudy and there's this case
(47:54):
study that I use with mycoaching clients of a social
worker who works with IBM andwhat she does with IBM is and
this is she's been with them foryears at this point the SME the
SME the subject matter expertand helps them develop, design
(48:16):
and sell software and packagesto child welfare organizations
around the country on how tostreamline their case management
, like service delivery notes,taking things like that right.
And so that was my first touchof like technology and the
integration of a social worker,and what I anticipate is that
(48:39):
the need for that will be great.
What I would love is to see yes,we need clinicians and
clinician type roles, but Iwould love to see more of our
clinical therapists looking atthe administrative side of work
in tech organizations.
Right, that's another bigstruggle that I see with social
(49:00):
workers.
They only see themselves aspractitioners.
However, we can be on the otherside of the house and,
ironically enough, because Ispecialize in STEM careers for
youth and young adults, that'smy workforce development hat, my
macro hat.
There are way more admin jobs intech organizations and STEM
(49:21):
organizations than there aretechnician jobs, so they need
people in those support rolesand it's hard for them to fill
because no one knows thatthey're available.
They only think about thetechnician.
So I just see that being a hugelane that social workers can
fill, especially because a lotof organizations really are
(49:45):
becoming more mission-driven intheir creation of widgets and
products and services.
Yeah, a large part of that ispart of their corporate social
responsibility guidelines, butalso a lot of them are just
concerned about it.
So, yeah, I see it being a hugeopportunity.
With the incomingadministration, I see it
(50:07):
becoming even more of a hugeopportunity, and so, like the
lane is open and my biggestchallenge for social workers
this year is to stop sittingback and letting the loudest
people in the room lead all ofthe conversations.
And when I say the room, I'm notjust talking about in your
(50:27):
eight to five.
I'm talking about out in theworld, on social media, because
people are being led astray by alot of misinformation and it's
really time for the people whoare passion-filled,
mission-driven, who have somelike whatever the relevant
experience, even if it'spersonal relevant experience to
(50:49):
really be the loudest ones inthe room, because people are
hurting and they're looking forresolutions, they're looking for
solutions, and I know that alot of us are like focused on
just the nine to five or maybewe're struggling with our
introversion, but it's time foryou to open your mouth.
(51:09):
The people need you.
So I really been challenging mycoaching clients to do more of
that publicly outside of theirnine to five.
Um, so yeah, that's mychallenge.
So, whatever your thing is.
So joey with you in the firemovie, we should.
You should be everywheretalking about that.
And again, I know you talk toveterans and social workers.
(51:31):
I love it.
What other organizations can weget you in?
What other spaces?
Speaker 1 (51:36):
are you?
Speaker 2 (51:36):
on Talking to the people that you know.
Those are just me thinking outloud.
I'm sure you are.
Speaker 1 (51:43):
Well, you know, it's funny that you say that because,
you know, I do have a littlebit of an initiative that I'm
working on called WealthQuestand it's just I don't know if
that that's a, I don't know ifit's an available name, I think
it is, but it's basically goingto be a financial literacy video
game I started.
There's a non-profit calledvets who code, and I'm I'm going
(52:04):
to work with them to try tolearn how to code and build this
from scratch, if I can and, um,you know, be be a part of that.
You know, like you were saying,be a part of the, the solution,
and really it's just thepassion for me, and I've been a
gamer for forever and just loveit.
So it's kind of a merging offashions like gaming and then
(52:25):
financial literacy, and you knowthat's where it's where a lot
of like.
Also, video game therapy issomething that I've been
researching lately, so justtrying to.
You know, I'm a very tech nerdtype of person.
So that's when you said IBM, Iwas like whoa, I need to, I need
to update my resume becauseapparently if there's social
(52:46):
workers at IBM, then that'swhere I need to be.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah, yeah, and in the like media arts I call arts,
but like media, media artsindustries they have huge.
They don't.
Of course, these are not jobs,they just say for social workers
, they're for anyone.
However, they are aligned withwhat social workers like to do.
(53:08):
So a part of what the work thatI do, which I really like love
to do, is clarity work withpeople, helping them getting
clear about what they want to doin their career and what they
want to do in their business,but specifically doing it by
looking out there at theiroutside passions and how to
infuse that.
So to hear you talk about, likein my free time I'm a gamer, oh,
(53:29):
that made sense, why you wantto create it, right.
But then also we can take iteven further, to like this is on
the nine-to-five type side ofthe house, like teach you how to
talk.
What employers would hire youto do something like that
in-house for them, and then evenon the business side,
organizations that you can comein and consult on the thing.
(53:52):
And you talked about theanalysis, paralysis, like.
I love that.
The biggest issue that I seewith social workers is, like
hesitancy to take action, and Ibe guilty of this in the
beginning of my entrepreneurialjourney, feeling like everything
has to be perfect, it has to belined up.
(54:13):
I actually had a 45-minute callwith a friend earlier today and
it's some stuff I've beentelling him for the last two
months and it's just like justdo it, why are we still talking?
But it has to be like this andyou are missing time and
opportunity.
So I say that to say take action, even when it's imperfect.
(54:36):
Right On my social media page,my stuff is not grade A like
compared to other people'scontent, but I'm taking action,
I'm impacting people, I'mgetting people to sign up for my
services, I'm educating, so Iwould leave that for whoever's
listening, also for you.
I love that.
(54:57):
But what can we be doing today,like, what can we do right now
with what you have in your hands?
Yes, because again, the peopleneed it and I love that.
The game idea.
Oh, that's a great idea.
Speaker 1 (55:10):
Well, you know, I've heard some good advice I got
early on was start messy, youknow, and then and then things
you know, as you get more repsin, as you get better, you'll
start to get better equipment oryou'll do this differently.
And I mean, yeah, I'm stillplenty messy, but I definitely
look back on my earlier stuffand I'm like, oh, that was rough
, but you know, you got to startsomewhere.
(55:32):
And then it also gives you like, when you do do look back on it
, you're like, wow, I actuallymade some improvements, I've
grown a little bit, I've gottena little bit better, and things
like that.
So, yeah, so any aspiringentrepreneurial, social workers
or just anybody, I guess at thatpoint, yeah, like you're saying
, don't wait until it's perfect,Just go out there and do it and
(55:53):
then iterate, improve and justget yourself out there Because,
yeah, you're wasting time.
That's a great point.
You're wasting time at thispoint.
So, wow.
So, yeah, we've covered a wholespectrum of things.
I love this conversation andthere's probably I'll probably
(56:20):
think of a hundred differentthings to ask you after we get
off the stream.
But so let's just recap alittle bit about okay, so you
have a lot on your plate andyou're a busy person.
But where could we directpeople to get to you if they
want to, like you know, get youand get your time?
Where can they, where can theygo to to get you?
Speaker 2 (56:42):
Yeah, so right here in the little blue bubble where
my name is, my my Web site isthe first place to go to, is
macro and paid dot com becausewe get paid as macro social
workers.
It's called macroandpaidcombecause we get paid as macro
social workers.
I don't know that wholewhatever the saying is impact
over income.
I don't even know it because Iknow what you're saying, we're
(57:03):
not in it.
Speaker 1 (57:04):
No, it doesn't apply to us.
Speaker 2 (57:06):
So we're macro and paid.
So the first place that youshould go to is there.
I have a free e-course.
It's the second link on mywebsite and it's the labor of
love.
It's my free gift to you.
It's where I break downeverything there is to know
about macro social work what itis, what it entails, job titles
(57:27):
because I know y'all love thosesalary ranges.
I give you some examples ofemployers, scope of work.
I even give you homework,because I wouldn't be the MSW
coach if I didn't give youhomework.
I give you a lot of resources,a lot of information to really
immerse yourself, to learn aboutthis other elusive side of the
social work profession, becauseI've demystified it.
(57:51):
Every myth, every lie, that'swhat I like to call it.
Every lie you've ever heardabout macro level work it's not
true, and I've demystified it.
Every myth, every lie, that'swhat I like to call it.
Every lie you've ever heardabout macro level work it's not
true and I've demystified it.
I've helped well over 180 socialworkers land macro jobs where
they have skilled, theirsalaries and their impact and
they're thriving, not just intheir job but outside of work
(58:12):
work.
We have had quite a few umcareer accelerator babies,
marriages, new home, becomingfirst-time home buyers.
My coaching clients travelinternationally and domestically
regularly.
The day I was on instagram andsaw one of my coaching clients
who landed a macro job.
She does sports, social, butshe landed a job in the macro
(58:34):
space around NCAA compliancebecause that's what she's
passionate about, and she was inAfrica glowing.
And another one of my coachingclients was in Greece the other
day.
So we really are thriving andthat's what I'm on a mission to
do is to help more change makersget into jobs where they can
get as proximate to power aspossible to create the small
(58:58):
changes that are needed toreally support the populations,
the issues that they're mostpassionate about.
So, if you're interested, atleast start with a free e-course
.
That's a great place to startto arm yourself with some
requisite information and then,in that, I give you links out to
my podcast.
I do have a podcast as well,but the e-course is the place to
(59:20):
start.
Speaker 1 (59:22):
Okay, well, I mean it sounds like you've got this
amazing ripple effect that'shappened with all your clients
and who knows, like, all thethings that they're about, all
the great things that they'regoing to do or are doing, have
done, man, I'm just that's,that's macro social work, right
there, I love that and uh, that,that, really, that lights a
fire in me.
You know, like I'm just likeman, I gotta do more.
(59:44):
You know, like I I'm no, yougot me fired up, so I appreciate
that so much.
Um, and, yeah, if anyone is isinterested in, uh, in working
with marthia, I mean just, Ican't say enough great things
about, about her.
So, uh, if you're listening,check out macro and paidcom, uh,
(01:00:05):
check out her youtube and, andI mean she's all over the place,
so you can't, you can't, avoidher at this point, she's
everywhere, which is awesome.
Um, so, all right, well, I mean, uh, I guess, uh, man, I don't
even know where else to go fromhere, but uh, I guess, uh, any
last parting words for for theaudience and yeah, we'll just
(01:00:25):
kind of end it from there, Iguess most definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:00:27):
I would highly encourage you to be a part of
whatever joy is offering,because what and I was telling
someone this the other day whatwas pivotal for me was seeing my
numbers on paper, like how muchI needed to at least pay,
because my relationship withmoney ain't always been good,
(01:00:50):
because I didn't make money, um,so I used to have dread going
into my bank account because Iknew I had bounce checks in
there and all the differenttypes of things and severely
overdrafted.
I had years and years of doingpayday loans and just a bad
relationship with my money.
And I actually hired a budgetcoach because I didn't even like
(01:01:11):
to and it brought up a lot ofstuff for me.
I've had a lot of.
Also on your entrepreneurialjourney, gotta get a lot of
counseling because it brings upstuff.
But it would like give meanxiety and I would be on the
calls and she would be doing thespreadsheet for me.
She was like are you ready todo it yourself?
No, no, I don't know, I don'twant to look at it.
(01:01:32):
Um and so, but it was one daywe were meeting I'll never
forget.
It was two years ago at thispoint and she had calculated my
monthly expenses for that monthwe had went through when the
bills were going to be draftedand all of the things told her.
(01:01:55):
I was like one of my businesscoaches said I really need to
project to figure out how much Ineed to bring in my business to
fund my business and mypersonal life, where I can at
least be comfortable.
And I was like can you help medo that?
And she was like, yeah, I canhelp you do it.
And she's like an ex-bankingperson.
She's been years in banking soshe loves to whip up a good,
good Excel spreadsheet.
(01:02:16):
So she put it all together andshe was like this is how much
you need.
And when I saw it I was likethat's all I need.
I in my mind I thought it waslike thousands and thousands and
thousands of dollars, maybe agood, like high five figure
number.
And when I saw the number, Iwas good, like high five-figure
(01:02:37):
number.
And when I saw the number I waslike, oh, I can do that.
And ever since then I've beenhitting it and exceeding it and
it was something in the power ofseeing the number on the paper,
absolutely.
And it wasn't like, oh, I'mgoing to go create the goal.
It wasn't even that, it wasjust something in the power of
seeing the number that changedmy life, that made it more
(01:03:00):
realistic for me.
Speaker 1 (01:03:01):
If that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
So with that I would just say for those listening, if
your relationship with yourmoney ain't that great, because
I've been there, done that, Iwould encourage you to work on
it, because a lot of what keepsus from having more in our life
financially is the fear in theold systems that we've had to
adopt to live Like I'm veryclear with people, very
transparent with people like mylife has not been a golden light
pathway to Oz, not been a agolden light pathway to oz.
(01:03:39):
It's been filled with a lot ofturmoil, a lot being a formal, a
former um, houseless teenager,like all of the things, a young
mother.
It's just been filled with alot of hardship.
So I say that to say like I wasoperating on a lot of old
systems that kept me afloat,like I was really good, thriving
, but in order to learn new waysto live and new ways to operate
, I had to first look at mymoney and get a better
(01:04:02):
relationship with it.
So I love the work you're doing, so my thing that I would leave
is do whatever Joey tells youto do, because it does start
with your relationship with yourmoney.
And once you get comfortablewith your money, you then become
fearless, and I'm going to tellthis quick story.
Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
Joy because I love this story I told my friend.
Speaker 2 (01:04:21):
it probably was like a year or so ago.
I was coming up for renewal inmy apartment and normally I just
sign on whatever they send meLike.
I don't ask no questions,because it's like I don't want,
even though I'm making goodmoney.
At this point my mind was stillin lack, like I normally don't
do anything to rock the boat,even though I've like never been
(01:04:41):
kicked out or beat or anything,it's just always in a place of
lack.
So, the leasing agent sent therenewal notice and on the notice
she had the rate that wouldhave been my rate had I renewed
late.
But I didn't renew late and Iremember talking to her and I
was like and basicallyadvocating for myself on the
(01:05:04):
phone and I was like I'm notpaying that because I renewed
within the deadline and thatshould be corrected.
And she was telling me all thereasons as to why it wasn't
going to be changed, things likethat.
And I remember my phone sayingI'm not going to pay that so
I'll just wait for a managerfrom the corporate office to
call me.
And she didn't even get anybodyto call me.
(01:05:25):
She immediately just fixed itand sent me an email.
But I remember getting likegoing through that and then
being on a friend with one of myhome girls and I was like I
think something is happeningwith me.
I said because I would havenever done that, but now that my
money is good and I got moneyto go wherever I want, so even
if I have to leave here becausethey don't want to give me the
(01:05:47):
rate that I need, I know I havethe financial resources to do
that I show up bigger and bolder.
That's the point of that storyand.
I don't see people miss, becauseI know I have the money to fund
my life, and so money really isa tool to live, and your goal
doesn't have to be I want tomake millions, that is, that's
(01:06:08):
great, but your goal should atleast be to live comfortable and
to have the resources, thetools that you need to do that.
So I encourage you to look atyour money, do whatever Joey is
telling you and get you one goodjob or start your one good
business, and it will changeyour life.
Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
I love that.
I love that and I mean, likeyou mentioned earlier, you said
that you know, you don't, youdidn't want to deal with your
money but you outsourced it andyou found somebody that was kind
of willing to help with you.
So you know, in that sense,find a friend or a family member
that you know is really moneysavvy and ask them questions.
You know, just talk to them.
(01:06:48):
You'd be surprised.
Like they are willing to, theylove more likely they love
talking about money anyways.
Like they are willing to, theylove more likely they love
talking about money anyways.
So that's the kind of personthat you need to talk to and be
like they will talk your ear offto try to fix your finances for
you.
So just find somebody that'snerdy about money like me, and
then I will go through yournumbers and I will fix them for
(01:07:09):
you.
Speaker 2 (01:07:09):
That's a service, Joey.
Yes, let's monetize it yes.
When are you going to sell it?
Herpes, joey, let's monetize it?
Speaker 1 (01:07:15):
When are you going to sell it?
Well, I mean, I'm already doingfinancial coaching, but I don't
really advertise it that much.
Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Oh, sign up for Joey's coaching y'all
Immediately, oh man.
Speaker 1 (01:07:26):
All right.
Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
Yes.
I'm not really a great salesmanfor my own services.
Yeah, I'm going to have to giveJoey a pep talk when we end
this call.
Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
Oh man, all services.
So I'm gonna have to give joeya pep talk when we end this call
.
Oh man, all right.
Well, um, marthia, I mean thishas been a great conversation.
Uh, I don't even want it to end, but I know you're a busy
person.
Uh, I've got a littlefive-year-old that's probably
looking for, uh, some daddy time, so, um, so, yeah, I think
that's a good time, a good spotto end it on.
But, once again, thank you foryour time.
I know your time is veryimportant and you know, just
(01:08:01):
once again, all the peoplelistening check out
macroandpaidcom, do theire-course.
You know, book her if you feelso inclined.
I hope you do.
But that's going to be it forthis show, this episode.
Stay tuned for more episodesand if you're a social worker
and you're interested in beingon the show, uh, just hit me up,
send me a direct message andwe'll take it from there.
(01:08:23):
But, uh, that's pretty mucheverything.
Um, I appreciate it, marthea,and uh, we will catch you guys
on the next stream.
Speaker 2 (01:08:32):
Bye.
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