April 30, 2025 • 35 mins
Left with nothing after divorce, forced onto food stamps, and watching her credit card decline at Walmart—Anika Jackson's rock bottom moment became the catalyst for an extraordinary comeback. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Anika reveals how she transformed from a desperate single mom to a university professor, podcast curriculum creator, business coach, and graduate student at 50. This isn't just another success story—it's a masterclass in resilience and a blueprint for building wealth against all odds. Discover the "Underground Railroad" of minority business networks most don't know exist and why putting yourself first isn't selfish—it's essential.
SHOW NOTES:
In this powerful episode, Stoy and Anika Jackson dive deep into the realities of rebuilding life after divorce as a single mother. Anika shares her journey from financial stability to food stamps and back to success, offering invaluable insights on:
- The hidden networks supporting minority entrepreneurs
- Why the people-first approach to business ultimately creates more wealth
- Breaking free from the "people pleasing" trap that holds many women and minorities back
- The critical importance of being "selfish" when building wealth
- How vulnerability and authenticity can become your greatest business assets
Connect with Anika:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikajackson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amplifywithanika
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amplifywithanika/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amplifywithanika
If you're struggling to build wealth, feeling alone on your journey, or just looking for honest conversations about money—this episode will remind you that you're not alone and show you exactly how to take that crucial first step forward.
As always we ask you to comment, DM, whatever it takes to have a conversation to help you take the next step in your journey, reach out on any platform!
Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin
DISCLOSURE: Awards and rankings by third parties are not indicative of future performance or client investment success. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investment strategies carry profit/loss potential and cannot eliminate investment risks. Information discussed may not reflect current positions/recommendations. While believed accurate, Black Mammoth does not guarantee information accuracy. This broadcast is not a solicitation for securities transactions or personalized investment advice. Tax/estate planning information is general - consult professionals for specific situations. Full disclosures at www.blackmammoth.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stoy (00:00):
Hey, all my single mothers out there who are doing
everything under the sun, didyou know that you're not alone?
I have my guest today, AnikaJackson, who also was a mom,
entrepreneur, uh, solo mom,doing amazing things, probably
more than I've ever thought ofdoing while being a single
mother.
So we're gonna go through herstory today and how that
correlates to who you are andwhat you're doing in today's
(00:22):
world, and letting you know thatyou're not alone in, in your
journey.
There are resources out there,there are other bad asses out
there that are here to help you.
So Anique.
Without further ado, welcome.
Anika Jackson (00:32):
Thank you so much.
I'm really excited to be hereand, and chop it up.
Stoy (00:36):
So let's dive right into that right one, being a single
mother, uh, I was raised by asingle mother, so I understand
some of that.
But also, not only were you asingle mother, you, you, you've
done like a hundred differentthings, amazing things while
being a single mother, not justone thing.
So talk us through that journeyfrom the start, and then how are
you feeling now after I've gonethrough it and successful?
Anika Jackson (00:56):
Well, there's that adage that you should never
just trust your partner with allthe financial.
Situation, right?
Whether it's being the soleowner, knowing what bills are
being paid, when knowing howmuch money is in the bank.
My ex-husband and I did have asmall shared bank account that I
could use for things, but I wasalso, I will say a smug married,
(01:19):
not thinking that I was a secondwife.
I had a sign of prenup, youknow, saying that I basically
got nothing and I signed itbecause we were so close to the
wedding.
I panicked, um, and goingthrough all this situation and I
had made six figures.
I had a good job before I gotmarried.
Then of course you get marriedmaybe.
You need to be around morebecause your husband travels,
(01:41):
then you have a kid, then you'rereally involved in school.
So I did do some really greatthings being a stay at home mom
and I did have some smallbusinesses that related to the
family.
Um, I did stuff with, you know,books as born books and the
other little things I could fitaround my daughter's schedule or
that would give back stuff toher school.
We also did real estateinvestment and I managed that
(02:03):
entirely on my own of like.
Taking a little bit of money,buying a house, leveraging it to
buy four houses, turning thatinto a line of credit, being
able to buy a lot other, otherproperty.
But that all went away when Igot divorced and you, you know,
I didn't really realize it takesa while for your brain to get
used to spending less moneybeing in a whole different tax
(02:24):
bracket, different situation.
So I'd always had a series ofbusinesses, I'd always been very
involved in charity andphilanthropy, and I still tried
to do a lot of that.
But now I'm a single mom, right?
So that was very difficult.
Tried working for somebody else.
That worked a little bit, butthen I was the mom who was the,
you know, my kid was the lastperson being picked up at
(02:46):
school, and that didn't feelgood either because I'd always
been there for her.
Um, I was also raised by asingle mom.
So I saw a lot of her example,like my daughter's 16 now.
I still make hot breakfast everymorning.
I pack her lunches.
You know, I, she's my number onepriority.
My mom would come home, I waslatchkey kid'cause that's the
age bracket that I'm in, gen X.
(03:07):
Um, and uh, you know, I knew howto do all that stuff when I was
young, but she always showed up.
She'd make us dinner, we wouldplay games together, hang out
after work.
So I don't know when she hadtime for herself, and that's
something that I've really seen.
I wanna be that mom, but I alsowanna value that I'm my own
person and that's what I need tomodel to my daughter.
(03:28):
I need her to not just to see mysuccess, but also see the
trouble, the issues, the hardparts of it, because that
humanizes us.
And it also shows her, it's notjust this glossy picture.
Right that you read about in thenewspaper.
A magazine for the magazinesthat exist nowadays or see on
tv.
So that takes us to 2019 and Imoved back from Houston to Los
(03:52):
Angeles.
My whole story is like, I grewup in Kansas, lived in Chicago,
la, San Francisco, Houston, sowe moving back to la.
I thought the situation wasgonna be very different than it
was moving back.
So I was thinking, okay, my exsaid he'll do X, Y, Z for me to
help me get a fresh start.
'cause he and my daughter bothwanted to move back.
(04:12):
I had a business in Houston Ihad to leave behind.
And so there was this wholesituation where I really, you
know, I had to go through it.
Like when I moved back, I hadspent all my money moving.
I had to go on food stamps.
'cause I was having a reallyhard time getting work for
somebody else.
I had to reestablish myself inthis market.
And also my skillset was allover the place because I hadn't
(04:33):
been an employee that much in mycareer.
Right.
So I, I know that's a, probablya little bit longer than you
wanted, but it's a, it's alsovery truncated version.
Stoy (04:44):
No, and, and obviously we all have our stories and they go
a lot deeper.
I am a hundred percent sure ofthat, but it gives us a
highlight of who you are, whereyou came from, right?
And I think your story, whiledifferent than others, really
aligns with a lot of people aswell, right?
Specifically women who aresingle mothers or going through
divorce or going to be goingthrough a divorce or thinking
(05:05):
about it.
These are all avenues and thingsthat go through your mind.
Both, you know, mentally andphysically, but like emotionally
draining as well.
And so kudos to you to, one,getting through the emotional
standpoint and getting out andgetting ahead and now being, you
know, being your own badass bossbecause that is not, that's few,
right?
It's rare and it's just amazingto see.
(05:28):
So you've gone through thisjourney.
Go ahead.
What were you gonna say?
Oh,
Anika Jackson (05:31):
no, go ahead.
Stoy (05:32):
Oh, I say, so you've gone through this journey Goods bads,
indifference.
When you were thinking ofobviously doing your, your book
and, and all of your businesseswith entrepreneurship, what was
the singular factor getting offfood stamps, and then what was
that next move that kind oflaunched the rest of your
career?
Anika Jackson (05:52):
Well, and, and the food stamp thing was a
really pivotal moment.
So I want people to not beafraid to use the resources that
are out there for us, because alot of times we feel shame.
But number one, they're reallynot that easy to get.
You have to do a lot ofpaperwork, a lot of reporting,
you know, and what happened isI've moved back, I couldn't find
work because again, my skillsetwas varied and most of the jobs
(06:16):
were looking for somebody with alot of specification, a
specialization in one area.
So I got some, I picked up somelittle work from friends who I'd
worked with before.
You know, I was really lookingfor a role in pr.
I had done branding, pr,marketing, a whole bunch of
different things.
Um, and I had gone to theWalmart grocery store.
(06:37):
When I dropped my daughter toschool, was like, I know that
groceries are affordable here.
I need to get stuff for us toeat.
And my card was declined.
And, um, that was a big ahamoment because.
The store manager felt called tohelp me and she said, pick out
what you need for you and yourbaby.
And, you know, not so baby, butyou know, young kid.
(07:00):
And, um, and she's like, what doyou need for to get you through
the next few days?
And I had been the person whoused to do that for other
people.
So it was very hard to let go ofego and to realize that this is
my reality now, and I need toaccept help and be open to it.
That's when I said, okay, whatelse can I do?
(07:20):
I need to get on food stamps.
So that, I kept applying,applying for several months and
I finally went outside, um, oneday in December, 2019 and looked
at the full moon and said, okay,I've done everything I can.
It is up to you now.
I've applied for a million jobs.
I've, you know, put myself outthere so much and that was the
(07:42):
turning point.
When then I got a call to do PRfor somebody else's clients,
then, you know, shortly afterPandemic happens.
I start getting client referralsfor mostly minority owned tech
businesses, but all social good,right?
Mm-hmm.
And so that was what I built mycareer on during the pandemic is
(08:03):
all of a sudden I was gettingall these clients, I got to
start my own business again, butwith money coming in.
And I still made a lot ofmistakes because at that point I
still was trying to be peoplepleaser.
Help everybody else make surethey were paid before I was
paid.
You know, all the things that wedo sometimes when we we're not
used to being actually thinkingwith that business mind.
(08:25):
So, you know, it was a bigshift, something I've
continuously learned.
But going from 2019, looking fora job, being on food stamps to
today, I am a universityprofessor teaching grad school.
I just created a podcastcurriculum, which you and I'll
have to talk about later forUniversity of Southern
California at the graduate levelthat is launching in the fall.
(08:48):
I have two podcasts, a thirdwith a third mini one.
Um, I'm coaching, consulting,also helping out with nonprofit,
right?
That fits all the things.
I'm also in grad school, gettingmy MBA with specialty in AI and
ml, and I am 50.
And I am the most me I've everbeen because I'm able to pursue
(09:11):
these opportunities, and part ofthat came from putting myself
out there continuously, beingvulnerable, being willing to
share the good, the bad, theugly.
Then also I.
Asking people, talking to peopleabout, Hey, I am really looking
for this kind of work.
Great.
Got a gig doing, you know,coming in, being a guest
lecturer for a class.
Then the professor's like, oh,you need to actually be a
(09:32):
professor.
So all these things just kind ofsnowballed and I, if I had
stayed that person, I was, Iwould never have explored this
entire world, this entirereality.
Been able to build up all ofthis amazing stuff that is
because of me, not because ofwho I'm married to.
Stoy (09:50):
Yeah.
We're taught, and I'm going toput women and minorities into a
group.
We are very similar in a lot ofways we think and talk, but I'm
gonna put us into a group fromthis perspective, growing up
with a single mother and youknow, being a black child and
all of that, we weren't allowedto be selfish.
Mm-hmm.
I use that loosely right now.
We weren't allowed to be selfishto think for ourselves and do
(10:11):
things for us first.
It was always like, peopleplease get things done for
others.
I don't even remember the timethat I've transitioned to that.
I think mine was probably,probably like three years ago.
I think 2023 is when my aha ofwhy I need to get the hell out
of my partnership with thatsituation was the same, very
much similar situation.
(10:31):
Have you found in your workconsultant and all of those
things that you're helping a lotof people with that, that's a
common theme that women,minorities have this like.
Inability to be selfish and Ikeep using selfish'cause it's a
trigger word for people, buttruthfully like,
Anika Jackson (10:47):
yeah,
Stoy (10:47):
it's tough for us to think about ourselves first.
Have you seen that as like acommon theme?
Anika Jackson (10:52):
A hundred percent, no question.
I'm also my, I'm firstgeneration, my mom's from
Thailand and.
In that journey.
Same thing, right?
Thailand's land of smiles.
We, we have a smile if we'remad, if we're sad, if we're
happy.
But you don't show people howyou really feel and you also are
there to serve.
And I do see that, and I, partof it is a lot of people that I
still talk to, clients that Istill have, that I love, you
(11:15):
know, that will help out whetherthey're paying me or not at this
point.
Some only, you know, for acouple I'll just, but, um, I see
that there, they still havethese struggles.
Like there is an amazing.
My, um, black woman entrepreneurin, you know, she's from
Oakland.
Her parents or her grandparentswere Black Panthers.
When she's looking for fundingfor her business, which by the
(11:36):
way, she has patents, she goesall around the world consulting
other people for hyperbaricoxygen therapy.
She had to bring a white man inthe room, right when she's
asking people for money.
She's now found a, an ecosystemof support from hidden minority
opportunities and people whowork in certain industries and
(11:56):
can pull levers that peopledon't know about.
But it takes a long time to findthe right people, and that is
part of everything I've tried todo.
Like in Houston, I had a socialclub and a retail store.
We had great display area, but Ionly charged like$200 a month
for businesses to come in anddisplay and sell because.
(12:17):
It was usually their side gig.
They were all minorityentrepreneurs and wanted to see
if they could make a go of theirside gig and get away from the
grind, right?
So we're all in the same boat.
And a hundred percent it's thepeople pleasing, it's the not
being as resourced, right?
It's being afraid to ask for, wevalue what our value is because
of those and many otherbarriers.
(12:39):
I mean, I grew up in Kansas.
There were, there was nobodylike me.
Right.
Yeah.
Went to a school in the middleof the country, they listened to
country music, you know, andyeah, there's, there's so much
we can dive into so many topicson this,
Stoy (12:55):
so many topics, maybe different episodes we can, I
wanted everyone to like reallyunderstand that those
demographics, like theminorities in in, in women in
general.
Have that same feeling, thatsame concern, and everyone's
like, well, it's gotten better.
Right?
Racism's, different women canvote.
You literally just told everyonethat there is basically a secret
(13:19):
society, if you will, ofminorities out there that can
move and do things.
No one knows about'em.
Right.
You have to work your way in toget to those, and they're all
over the country, by the way.
Problem is.
They're not also integratedtogether either.
Yeah.
And that's kind of that sameexact feeling, right?
We don't want to be put outthere, we don't want to be loud.
(13:39):
We don't wanna do those thingsbecause inherently that's always
been.
A negative connotation for us.
There's always been negativenegativity behind it, and that's
why obviously I have no BSwealth, but I also am wanting,
and I don't know how it looks,but we need to connect to those
groups.
We need to do that becausethere's a lot of power, there's
a lot of wealth, there's a lotof influence in all these
(14:00):
different parts.
They just don't talk to eachother.
And I think it all stems back tothat how we just talked about
how we feel.
And even in those groups, theystill have that, regardless of
how successful they are or not.
Anika Jackson (14:12):
And, and let's be real, I wanna keep it as kind of
this under the new ageUnderground Railroad, right?
Yeah.
Because with everything going onin politics with all of the
different initiatives, we'reseeing companies roll back all
their initiatives.
Because of who's the presidentor, you know, it's hard to know
who to support these days, whichcompanies are gonna come out and
attack, um, which laws andregulations are gonna be pulled
(14:34):
back.
So I think there's more power innumbers and in us all working
together and figuring out how tonavigate that.
Mm-hmm.
Together, we don't need topublicize it to everybody else.
Yeah.
People that aren't there for us.
Stoy (14:49):
Absolutely.
I, I was, um.
Part of females in finance and Irun the Rise, which is the black
and brown segment of it.
But the CEO had went to aconference, I think it was last
year, maybe previous year inJanuary with, you know, your
Fidelity, your Schwabs, allthese big firms and and whatnot.
And they were bringing up allthe data about.
(15:10):
Where money's flowing to.
'cause we're in this wealth,this whole new wealth craze,
right?
Everything, the money's movingfrom boomers on down, et cetera.
And they had brought up the mostgrowing network or data point of
our society that is bringing inthe most wealth and is
accumulating the most, is theminority population.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Both women and predominantlyblack, but like just minorities
in general.
(15:31):
The conversation that they werebringing up wasn't about how can
we support them mm-hmm.
And continue to help them.
It was asking specificminorities who are in that
conference, how are you doingthis, and what are the ways you
are achieving this and workingwith them.
And if you read into that,everybody, they're trying to
figure out a way to get into themarket because of the money.
Anika Jackson (15:53):
Yeah.
Stoy (15:53):
And then since then, I've had a couple colleagues sell
their practices to, you know,the highest bidder.
And so you're starting to seethat movement within our own
industry of like, no white manstill has money and they're just
gonna go buy it.
And now they'll own.
You know that, that side, so theunderground railroad type
approach is the predominant waythat needs to happen.
(16:15):
We just need to be able to talkto each other through, through
that railroad.
Right.
Yeah.
And not be so segmented.
So I appreciate that.
And I know we kind of went leftturn a little bit there and
it's, but it's important.
Anika Jackson (16:25):
Yeah.
And, and if I may share a coupleother stories, I have another
friend who is a really amazingreal estate investor.
She, because she, um, grew up inBakersfield.
Her grandparents were some ofthe only black farmers who owned
their land.
They've still, the land's stillin the family there.
She's a scientist.
She was working a job.
She was putting money into 401kand was like, this is not
(16:47):
growing.
What do I need to do?
Real estate?
So she went to the library inthe bookstore every weekend with
her son for a year.
Read every real estate book shecould.
Now she's a big contractor.
She is doing multimillion dollarrenovations, but she said she
couldn't even get in the room.
And now all these older whitemen are coming to her for her
(17:10):
expertise.
And this is to your point,something we see time and time
again.
When I had my PR firm, I had acouple clients who couldn't pay
last.
You know, because of they lostthis funding or because whatever
situation they were in, whichput me back because I didn't do
the traditional, you save Xamount of money before you start
your business.
You know, this is a pandemicbusiness and I like grew.
(17:31):
So I got an offer to merge withanother bigger firm where I
thought, okay, they're gonna proprovide more security, more
stability for my clients, for myteam.
Well, most of my team left rightaway.
I quickly found out that the.
Big wigs in the firm.
They said they had certainvalues, but they were still
taking clients that werecompletely opposed to my values.
(17:53):
My clients felt like a number.
They didn't feel like they weresupported the way that I and my
team supported them because wehad similar cultural
backgrounds.
And when I left, I left aftersix months, I did not have a
backup plan.
I had no money saved, but I waslike, I can't work somewhere
that does not align.
And guess what?
Clients came back to me becausethey're like, we wanna work with
(18:13):
you.
We didn't wanna work with thembecause we could see where the
money was going.
We could see, you know, we couldsee people weren't really paying
attention to what we're doing towho we are.
We're just a number.
And so I think that's alsoreally important is, and that's
something I I see in what youmentioned, is that we're not
just numbers to each other.
We are actually people withopinions and with ideas and
(18:36):
strategies that we can get outinto the world.
And we need to be able tosupport each other in that
journey.
So anything that you're doing,I'm here for it.
Let me know how I can support.
Stoy (18:49):
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
I'm trying to put that together.
I don't know what it looks likeyet.
We'll talk about that, but it'svery important for our listeners
to understand that.
Right.
There's a difference.
There's only two different typesof people in business, in my
opinion.
Yeah.
Okay.
Quote me if I'm wrong or or giveyour opinion afterwards.
But there are those that careabout money and there are those
that care about people first.
(19:11):
There's no other.
There's no in between.
There's none of that.
It is literally, you either careabout people or you care about
money, and that is how you'regonna build your business.
The only people I care about andwork with are the ones that care
about people.
Yeah.
Because if you're providing aservice products, you name
whatever your business is, andit's wrapped around the fact
that you are caring about thatend result, the end user client,
(19:31):
whatever, the money will come.
But you are doing such a goodservice for people in humanity.
That it fulfills you in a waythat money never will.
And I, I wrap that up with the,the definition of wealth, right?
There's a argument today onthread's, argument, debate, the
word rich and wealth and thedictionary.
(19:53):
Technically they're the samething, right?
They're not though.
My definition of being rich issomeone who, it's all about
money.
They talk about how many zeroesthey flaw on it all.
It's like, I'm rich because Ihave money.
Wealthy to me, has nothing to dowith money.
It's, I'm living a hap happy,joyful life.
I'm able to provide back toothers, and I can use money as a
(20:16):
tool to help in ways that I wantto, not, that it's dictated to
me.
Mm-hmm.
And that's what's being wealthyas opposed to being rich where
it's like, yeah, I'm abillionaire.
Congratulations.
What are you doing when peopleare still starving?
They're still kids withoutclothes like that.
And so, um, I, I always do thatfull circle, but that's my
definition or not my definition.
(20:36):
That's my saying.
There's are only two people inbusiness.
Those for money and those forpeople.
Anika Jackson (20:40):
Yeah, a hundred percent agree.
And that's why we have to findthe people who are like-minded
because then we can make moneytogether.
And then it's a great experiencebecause we're putting people
first.
We're really happy and joyful.
Um.
I will, this is totally offtopic, maybe, but I've also
seen, I have dual citizenshipwith Thailand now, and my, my
(21:02):
mom lives there.
My brother and his family aremoving over there in the fall
because they have two youngboys.
They just don't wanna be in thecurrent environment.
Um, I, my daughter's gonna be inuniversity in another, you know,
year and a couple months.
So I'm really looking at, I cando more good possibly from
living there.
(21:23):
Where the food is super healthy,no preservatives, where
everybody's friendly.
I can rent a really niceapartment or condo furnished
overlooking the ocean,$300 US amonth, right?
Healthcare, like all thesebenefits, plus being part of the
culture, being a citizen, andit's disheartening to think that
(21:46):
I might have to do that because.
To live in LA as a single mom.
I read statistic that said youneed to make at least$99,000 a
year to be middle class, to belike lower middle class, right,
lower middle.
So I can't just, right now Ihave, I teach.
I podcast, I do make money formy podcast.
(22:06):
I do some coaching.
I haven't been doing as muchbecause I've been getting a lot
of other stuff in place, but I'mnow ramping that PR work, brand
visibility podcast coaching tohelp people get to that state of
being an independent podcast, ornot spending a lot of money, but
being able to make money rightaway.
I also work for nonprofitfoundation because I gotta have
(22:27):
all these things going to justpay the bills, keep the lights
on, you know, and I'm going tograd school, which I'm paying
for by myself.
I'm doing that because I knowwhat opportunities they'll
provide.
So it's a constant like chain ofthat where I'm not ever
satisfied right now with theamount of money that's coming
in.
Um, I love your definition inthinking about wealth.
(22:47):
I want a little more, you know,on the financial side too.
Um, but I feel like everythingI'm building right now will get
me there and then I can thinkabout how do I help even help
people even more.
And it's okay to make moneydoing it.
I'm not gonna charge themthings.
Other people would charge thembecause they say, oh, you could
charge 10,$15,000 for thisprogram.
(23:09):
Like, or I can charge this muchand I'm gonna set them up with
exactly my systems.
I'm gonna make sure they get theright press.
I'm gonna do this, that theother Right.
And add a benefit where I'm notjust taking, but I am walking
side by side with somebody.
Stoy (23:26):
Yeah.
And you won't.
Yes.
Fill it with a bunch of fillers.
Right.
You know, um, speaking of thefood in America, oh man, I'm a
foodie and good, good gracious.
But like, that's the reason it'sthat way is'cause it's cheap and
it's addicting.
Like those are the two reasonsin our, in our industry, in the
food industry, in America,because it's cheap, they make
more money and it's addicting.
(23:47):
It brings people back.
Yeah.
Right.
That inherently is a businessmodel, is caring more about
money than people.
A
Anika Jackson (23:55):
hundred percent.
Why isn't
Stoy (23:56):
there more out there just saying, you know what, this is
as clean as it gets.
I literally picked it yesterday,type of thing, with none of the
pesticides and all of thatstuff, because it cost cost
more.
Right?
And that's where I think thebusiness owners and stuff like
that, they, some of them go backand forth and they'll battle
that, right?
They'll battle what running abusiness in our society is
supposed to be, and that meanshigher profit margins, you know,
(24:19):
cutting, cutting costs where youcan and blah, blah, blah.
Whereas a lot of those peopleare just like.
I started business for peoplelike to take care of them.
I don't wanna lose that, thatsense, that sense of that.
Um, and that's a lot of what,when, you know, with my clients
that we, we go back and forthwith is like, there's a way to
run your life on an emotionalbusiness decision perspective.
(24:41):
Mm-hmm.
That doesn't make you cutcorners, doesn't make you feel
like you're choosing money overpeople, but does truly teach
people what your value isbecause there's the other flip
side, right?
Mm-hmm.
You don't want to devalueyourself either.
Exactly.
Um, and there's that balance.
But a lot of that I think, comesout, and you'll probably get
this talking about your PR side,is from you speaking from you
(25:01):
being the content creator onpodcast, your own personal
brand, and just saying it outloud.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Just say it.
It's the truth.
No one can go back and say like,Nope, Stoy didn't ever say that,
or, well, he just, he just madethat up.
No, I've said it on everypodcast for four years.
Right.
That stuff is what's important.
So I, I applaud that.
I wanted to get into that.
Yeah.
Talk about your podcasts.
Anika Jackson (25:22):
Oh, yeah.
Well, so I have two slash threepodcasts.
Your brand amplified came outof, I had podcasts for a couple
clients in my PR firm.
They didn't have the budget tosustain them.
I was doing all the work.
I'm the host, I, my team isproducing it, and I'm getting
all the guests, everything.
And I wasn't paying myself.
I was just paying my team fortheir work.
(25:44):
And so I was like, and I wasalso providing all these
marketing materials they weren'teven using because they didn't
understand how.
I think now people have a betteridea of.
Understanding how to utilize apodcast to its full effect.
So then I just started my own,um, because I'd, in Houston, I'd
been a radio host, an mc for alot of things.
So I was like, well, I lovetalking to people.
Right?
(26:04):
I started out as like, I'm gonnatalk to publicists.
I'm gonna ask five for 10questions and it's gonna be this
long.
'cause that's drive time in theUnited, I I was very rigid and
then I was like, this doesn'tfeel good at all.
And so now I mean it, I thinkevery 50 to a hundred episodes.
I tweak it a little bit.
I get even better atinterviewing, um, your brand.
(26:24):
Amplified is my main podcast.
We don't just talk aboutbranding, although, because, but
I think every time somebody'stalking, it is about their
brand, right?
Whether we are being explicit ornot.
But, um, we talk about so manydifferent topics from AI
founders and experts togenerative search versus SEO,
but to like, what are the othertrends coming forward to just
(26:44):
people's business stories.
Kind of like what you share, andI really love it.
It's beautiful.
I am on an ad network.
I'm in the Apple charts, allthat stuff fun.
I've tried a little bit ofeverything to figure out how to
get.
Myself there, myself, and that'swhat I wanna help other people
with.
Then I have a podcast,university of Southern
California, mediascape Insightsfrom Digital Change Makers.
(27:06):
'cause that's, I teach digitalmedia management there.
Um, and that one it plugs, youknow, it's going, but it's not
my primary focus, but it is goodand gives me more leverage at
the university.
And then I've been working witha former zen monk who's been
coaching me for about a year,off and on, um, on self-mastery
and techniques to like use myvoice.
(27:28):
So many times we're scared toshare like exactly what we're
feeling or thinking.
Use it kindly still, right?
But, and so we do on Fridays ofyour brand amplified, I do a
quick little episode with himwhere we're just, we just jump
on and talk about whatever's onwhatever comes to mind that is
going to become its own podcast.
But part of the reason I do it,I'm testing out different
(27:48):
things.
I'm repurposing those previouspodcasts on your brand amplified
as bonus episodes because themore content I have out, the
more ad revenue I get.
Do I always like the ads?
No, feel free to skip throughthem, but the checks are getting
bigger and that helps me pay forthe podcast.
Right.
And then there are othertechniques that anybody can use,
but it's something that hasreally enriched my life, the
(28:09):
connections I've made.
I would not have, I've been ableto speak on national, global
stages.
It's definitely helped me getmore teaching opportunities.
Now I have the podcastcurriculum launching, and my
vision is having an entireprogram.
We have a minor for undergrads.
We don't have.
Anything beyond that, and Iwanna expand that because this
is the best medium to getthought leadership.
(28:32):
Talk about your business, shareideas with people, just let
people get to know you on,hopefully on a little bit more
personal level.
Stoy (28:39):
Yeah.
It brings a realism, right?
I, I think.
I know that the differencebetween social media nowadays is
it used to be like, just postabout your story and be
authentic.
It's gone to like, where youreally don't know if that's how
that person lives their life, ornot as much anymore, but like
these do.
Yeah, like there's no, there'sreally, it's really tough to
hide who you are in a podcast.
(29:00):
Length of time, video, you nameit.
If you have a good host, thatis, they bring out the best in
you.
And that's just, that's amazing.
So we can definitely dive moreon that.
But as we we get to this end, Ialways have two questions.
Okay.
We can go anywhere which way wewant with them, but I always ask
these because usually I get likethe first one I ask that
everyone's like, I don't thinkanyone's ever asked me that
before.
So I take pride in that.
I'm prideful of that.
(29:21):
So first question, what is yourfirst money memory?
Oh.
Anika Jackson (29:28):
My first money memory is when I was, oh gosh,
maybe 12 years old.
Well, there's, there's a couple.
One is I would, did a lot ofbabysitting when I was like 10,
11, 12 in the neighborhood.
Didn't get paid very much.
Also look back and I'm like, Iwas making full meals for these
(29:49):
babies and people were leavingtheir kids in my hands at 10
years old and like, okay with meusing their stove.
What was that about?
So that's one.
The biggest one was I wore a lotof hand-me-downs from my.
Sister from my aunt.
And so the clothes weren'tnecessarily every, what
everybody else was wearing atschool, and I don't think I ever
quite got there, but I rememberhaving access finally to my own
(30:12):
savings account and being ableto take a little bit of money
out and go shopping for clothesthat I liked, not clothes that
were picked out for me, and thatwas a big aha moment.
Another one is my first joboutside of babysitting and stuff
was working for a carpetcleaning company.
In Topeka, Kansas and there wasstill I The yellow pages.
(30:32):
The white pages, right?
We would say, okay, you're gonnacall all the people with B.
Last name.
Just go down cold call.
And if you got a sale, there wasa dartboard and you threw a
dart, and wherever it landed waswhat your bonus was.
Stoy (30:48):
Nice.
Anika Jackson (30:49):
Which is insane to think about.
It
Stoy (30:51):
is,
Anika Jackson (30:52):
but those are me really thinking from a young
age.
I was also that kid, I wantstuff, I'm gonna go door to door
selling stuff.
And sometimes people justthought that meant I was poor
and would gimme a quarter,invite me in for cookies, right?
Instead of like, no, I want youto buy something so I can have
bigger goals.
But I think I've always beenthat person.
I've always had a hustlementality.
I've always wanted to work forwhat I get.
(31:12):
I don't wanna take shortcuts.
I wanna be authentic to who I amand that journey, and that's
something that I still do forgood or for bad these days.
Stoy (31:20):
Well, there's my follow up to that was like, think of those
and then how, how has thatmolded you today and what you're
doing today?
But hey, you, you still do them.
And I think everyone has thatmoney, memory and understanding
of like there's good and bad toevery memory, right?
And it's just how you utilizethose and how you shift those.
But if you don't recognize whatthey are, then that's usually
(31:42):
when they're a little moretrauma filled and they cause
issues when you're an adult.
So it's, it's immediate and it'samazing to recognize that you
have multiple that have moldedyou.
And you, you still abide by someof those today.
Anika Jackson (31:53):
Some of them.
I, I, yeah.
Sorry, go ahead.
No, you're
Stoy (31:57):
good.
Um, last question.
Our whole focus on No BS wealth,which you have learned and have
been a part of, is we wanna makesure that our listeners
understand they're not alone,right?
We all have a lot of shit goingon in our lives, but you're not
the only person.
And if you feel alone, that'susually when depression and
spiraling happens.
Yeah.
However, there are resources outthere for you and there's ideas
(32:18):
out there for you.
What is one idea, action step orwhatever that they can take
right now from this last part ofthe episode and can instill and
implement now that will helpthem on that first step in their
journey?
Anika Jackson (32:33):
Yeah.
Well, my no BS answer is I'vebeen in that place where I had
an almost perfect credit scoreand can do anything I.
Not in that place right now.
I've had to really struggle overthe last few years, even though
outwardly it looks like I haveall these great things going on,
because I do have amazing thingsgoing on.
That doesn't mean that my bankaccount matches it yet, but I've
(32:56):
seen the highs, I've seen thelows.
I've seen how I can get themoney.
I've understood what I can dobetter.
My piece of advice would be youdo have to think about yourself
first.
So I could completely use everydime that comes in to pay for I.
My business expenses, my schoolexpenses, you know, my daughter
(33:16):
stuff, whatever it is that's notrelated to me, but I always make
sure to take a little bit ofmoney for.
To, uh, give myself a littleprize, right?
Even if it's something like thisis gonna help my desk set up,
this is gonna help my house feela little bit better.
Um, I also make sure that I puta little bit of money aside so
(33:36):
that I can also reward myselfwhile I'm also paying for all
these other things.
I also, you know, a lot ofpeople say, get outta debt
before you start putting moneyin investment accounts.
I've decided to throw that outthe window.
You know, I'm, I have.
Because I'm a W2 at a couple ofthings, even though it really
get to mold what I do there, Ihave a PB account where they
(33:58):
match double what I put in.
I have a 401k where they don'tmatch anything, but at least I'm
putting some money away and I'mnot doing full amounts.
I'm putting at least somethingbecause I know that that's money
I'm not gonna touch.
That's gonna be there for mysecurity.
And yeah, am I expecting to bemaking a ton of money?
This year with all the differentthings I'm putting into place
(34:19):
percent, but I still wanna havethat security.
I still put a little aside togive to people that I need to
give to, right?
Like I have a nonprofit thatworks in Ghana.
There's so much need in othercountries.
So I make sure I can send alittle money, even if it's not
what I used to send.
So I really think it's importantto think about yourself and not
just.
Live from that starvationmentality, right?
(34:43):
That scarcity mentality.
But live in abundance.
Make sure that you're holdingtrue to your values.
Make sure you're setting aside alittle bit for you, um, so that
you can have some peace and joystill while you're rebuilding if
that's where you are.
Stoy (34:57):
I love it.
Couldn't say it better myself.
And we'll end it with, Heyeverybody, like, share, comment,
subscribe, not for thealgorithm.
Really don't care about that.
But it allows us to reach morepeople.
It allows us to reach you moreoften because what we're here
for, we are a team.
Now, whether she believes it ornot, I, I
Anika Jackson (35:14):
believe it.
Stoy (35:14):
We are a team that are here to help you on your, on
your next step of your journey,right?
And so reach back out,communicate so we can create
better content for you.
But also if you have a directquestion about yourself, we're,
we're here to help and we havethe resources to help.
So I appreciate you coming on, Iappreciate you saying your story
and talking through all of that.
'cause that is deep and it isreal and that's what we're all
about on OBS wealth.
(35:35):
So I appreciate you.
Anika Jackson (35:37):
Thank you.
I appreciate the invitation andthe conversation.
Stoy (35:42):
All righty.
Ooh.
Hey, all my single mothers out there who are doing
everything under the sun, didyou know that you're not alone?
I have my guest today, AnikaJackson, who also was a mom,
entrepreneur, uh, solo mom,doing amazing things, probably
more than I've ever thought ofdoing while being a single
mother.
So we're gonna go through herstory today and how that
correlates to who you are andwhat you're doing in today's
(00:22):
world, and letting you know thatyou're not alone in, in your
journey.
There are resources out there,there are other bad asses out
there that are here to help you.
So Anique.
Without further ado, welcome.
Anika Jackson (00:32):
Thank you so much.
I'm really excited to be hereand, and chop it up.
Stoy (00:36):
So let's dive right into that right one, being a single
mother, uh, I was raised by asingle mother, so I understand
some of that.
But also, not only were you asingle mother, you, you, you've
done like a hundred differentthings, amazing things while
being a single mother, not justone thing.
So talk us through that journeyfrom the start, and then how are
you feeling now after I've gonethrough it and successful?
Anika Jackson (00:56):
Well, there's that adage that you should never
just trust your partner with allthe financial.
Situation, right?
Whether it's being the soleowner, knowing what bills are
being paid, when knowing howmuch money is in the bank.
My ex-husband and I did have asmall shared bank account that I
could use for things, but I wasalso, I will say a smug married,
(01:19):
not thinking that I was a secondwife.
I had a sign of prenup, youknow, saying that I basically
got nothing and I signed itbecause we were so close to the
wedding.
I panicked, um, and goingthrough all this situation and I
had made six figures.
I had a good job before I gotmarried.
Then of course you get marriedmaybe.
You need to be around morebecause your husband travels,
(01:41):
then you have a kid, then you'rereally involved in school.
So I did do some really greatthings being a stay at home mom
and I did have some smallbusinesses that related to the
family.
Um, I did stuff with, you know,books as born books and the
other little things I could fitaround my daughter's schedule or
that would give back stuff toher school.
We also did real estateinvestment and I managed that
(02:03):
entirely on my own of like.
Taking a little bit of money,buying a house, leveraging it to
buy four houses, turning thatinto a line of credit, being
able to buy a lot other, otherproperty.
But that all went away when Igot divorced and you, you know,
I didn't really realize it takesa while for your brain to get
used to spending less moneybeing in a whole different tax
(02:24):
bracket, different situation.
So I'd always had a series ofbusinesses, I'd always been very
involved in charity andphilanthropy, and I still tried
to do a lot of that.
But now I'm a single mom, right?
So that was very difficult.
Tried working for somebody else.
That worked a little bit, butthen I was the mom who was the,
you know, my kid was the lastperson being picked up at
(02:46):
school, and that didn't feelgood either because I'd always
been there for her.
Um, I was also raised by asingle mom.
So I saw a lot of her example,like my daughter's 16 now.
I still make hot breakfast everymorning.
I pack her lunches.
You know, I, she's my number onepriority.
My mom would come home, I waslatchkey kid'cause that's the
age bracket that I'm in, gen X.
(03:07):
Um, and uh, you know, I knew howto do all that stuff when I was
young, but she always showed up.
She'd make us dinner, we wouldplay games together, hang out
after work.
So I don't know when she hadtime for herself, and that's
something that I've really seen.
I wanna be that mom, but I alsowanna value that I'm my own
person and that's what I need tomodel to my daughter.
(03:28):
I need her to not just to see mysuccess, but also see the
trouble, the issues, the hardparts of it, because that
humanizes us.
And it also shows her, it's notjust this glossy picture.
Right that you read about in thenewspaper.
A magazine for the magazinesthat exist nowadays or see on
tv.
So that takes us to 2019 and Imoved back from Houston to Los
(03:52):
Angeles.
My whole story is like, I grewup in Kansas, lived in Chicago,
la, San Francisco, Houston, sowe moving back to la.
I thought the situation wasgonna be very different than it
was moving back.
So I was thinking, okay, my exsaid he'll do X, Y, Z for me to
help me get a fresh start.
'cause he and my daughter bothwanted to move back.
(04:12):
I had a business in Houston Ihad to leave behind.
And so there was this wholesituation where I really, you
know, I had to go through it.
Like when I moved back, I hadspent all my money moving.
I had to go on food stamps.
'cause I was having a reallyhard time getting work for
somebody else.
I had to reestablish myself inthis market.
And also my skillset was allover the place because I hadn't
(04:33):
been an employee that much in mycareer.
Right.
So I, I know that's a, probablya little bit longer than you
wanted, but it's a, it's alsovery truncated version.
Stoy (04:44):
No, and, and obviously we all have our stories and they go
a lot deeper.
I am a hundred percent sure ofthat, but it gives us a
highlight of who you are, whereyou came from, right?
And I think your story, whiledifferent than others, really
aligns with a lot of people aswell, right?
Specifically women who aresingle mothers or going through
divorce or going to be goingthrough a divorce or thinking
(05:05):
about it.
These are all avenues and thingsthat go through your mind.
Both, you know, mentally andphysically, but like emotionally
draining as well.
And so kudos to you to, one,getting through the emotional
standpoint and getting out andgetting ahead and now being, you
know, being your own badass bossbecause that is not, that's few,
right?
It's rare and it's just amazingto see.
(05:28):
So you've gone through thisjourney.
Go ahead.
What were you gonna say?
Oh,
Anika Jackson (05:31):
no, go ahead.
Stoy (05:32):
Oh, I say, so you've gone through this journey Goods bads,
indifference.
When you were thinking ofobviously doing your, your book
and, and all of your businesseswith entrepreneurship, what was
the singular factor getting offfood stamps, and then what was
that next move that kind oflaunched the rest of your
career?
Anika Jackson (05:52):
Well, and, and the food stamp thing was a
really pivotal moment.
So I want people to not beafraid to use the resources that
are out there for us, because alot of times we feel shame.
But number one, they're reallynot that easy to get.
You have to do a lot ofpaperwork, a lot of reporting,
you know, and what happened isI've moved back, I couldn't find
work because again, my skillsetwas varied and most of the jobs
(06:16):
were looking for somebody with alot of specification, a
specialization in one area.
So I got some, I picked up somelittle work from friends who I'd
worked with before.
You know, I was really lookingfor a role in pr.
I had done branding, pr,marketing, a whole bunch of
different things.
Um, and I had gone to theWalmart grocery store.
(06:37):
When I dropped my daughter toschool, was like, I know that
groceries are affordable here.
I need to get stuff for us toeat.
And my card was declined.
And, um, that was a big ahamoment because.
The store manager felt called tohelp me and she said, pick out
what you need for you and yourbaby.
And, you know, not so baby, butyou know, young kid.
(07:00):
And, um, and she's like, what doyou need for to get you through
the next few days?
And I had been the person whoused to do that for other
people.
So it was very hard to let go ofego and to realize that this is
my reality now, and I need toaccept help and be open to it.
That's when I said, okay, whatelse can I do?
(07:20):
I need to get on food stamps.
So that, I kept applying,applying for several months and
I finally went outside, um, oneday in December, 2019 and looked
at the full moon and said, okay,I've done everything I can.
It is up to you now.
I've applied for a million jobs.
I've, you know, put myself outthere so much and that was the
(07:42):
turning point.
When then I got a call to do PRfor somebody else's clients,
then, you know, shortly afterPandemic happens.
I start getting client referralsfor mostly minority owned tech
businesses, but all social good,right?
Mm-hmm.
And so that was what I built mycareer on during the pandemic is
(08:03):
all of a sudden I was gettingall these clients, I got to
start my own business again, butwith money coming in.
And I still made a lot ofmistakes because at that point I
still was trying to be peoplepleaser.
Help everybody else make surethey were paid before I was
paid.
You know, all the things that wedo sometimes when we we're not
used to being actually thinkingwith that business mind.
(08:25):
So, you know, it was a bigshift, something I've
continuously learned.
But going from 2019, looking fora job, being on food stamps to
today, I am a universityprofessor teaching grad school.
I just created a podcastcurriculum, which you and I'll
have to talk about later forUniversity of Southern
California at the graduate levelthat is launching in the fall.
(08:48):
I have two podcasts, a thirdwith a third mini one.
Um, I'm coaching, consulting,also helping out with nonprofit,
right?
That fits all the things.
I'm also in grad school, gettingmy MBA with specialty in AI and
ml, and I am 50.
And I am the most me I've everbeen because I'm able to pursue
(09:11):
these opportunities, and part ofthat came from putting myself
out there continuously, beingvulnerable, being willing to
share the good, the bad, theugly.
Then also I.
Asking people, talking to peopleabout, Hey, I am really looking
for this kind of work.
Great.
Got a gig doing, you know,coming in, being a guest
lecturer for a class.
Then the professor's like, oh,you need to actually be a
(09:32):
professor.
So all these things just kind ofsnowballed and I, if I had
stayed that person, I was, Iwould never have explored this
entire world, this entirereality.
Been able to build up all ofthis amazing stuff that is
because of me, not because ofwho I'm married to.
Stoy (09:50):
Yeah.
We're taught, and I'm going toput women and minorities into a
group.
We are very similar in a lot ofways we think and talk, but I'm
gonna put us into a group fromthis perspective, growing up
with a single mother and youknow, being a black child and
all of that, we weren't allowedto be selfish.
Mm-hmm.
I use that loosely right now.
We weren't allowed to be selfishto think for ourselves and do
(10:11):
things for us first.
It was always like, peopleplease get things done for
others.
I don't even remember the timethat I've transitioned to that.
I think mine was probably,probably like three years ago.
I think 2023 is when my aha ofwhy I need to get the hell out
of my partnership with thatsituation was the same, very
much similar situation.
(10:31):
Have you found in your workconsultant and all of those
things that you're helping a lotof people with that, that's a
common theme that women,minorities have this like.
Inability to be selfish and Ikeep using selfish'cause it's a
trigger word for people, buttruthfully like,
Anika Jackson (10:47):
yeah,
Stoy (10:47):
it's tough for us to think about ourselves first.
Have you seen that as like acommon theme?
Anika Jackson (10:52):
A hundred percent, no question.
I'm also my, I'm firstgeneration, my mom's from
Thailand and.
In that journey.
Same thing, right?
Thailand's land of smiles.
We, we have a smile if we'remad, if we're sad, if we're
happy.
But you don't show people howyou really feel and you also are
there to serve.
And I do see that, and I, partof it is a lot of people that I
still talk to, clients that Istill have, that I love, you
(11:15):
know, that will help out whetherthey're paying me or not at this
point.
Some only, you know, for acouple I'll just, but, um, I see
that there, they still havethese struggles.
Like there is an amazing.
My, um, black woman entrepreneurin, you know, she's from
Oakland.
Her parents or her grandparentswere Black Panthers.
When she's looking for fundingfor her business, which by the
(11:36):
way, she has patents, she goesall around the world consulting
other people for hyperbaricoxygen therapy.
She had to bring a white man inthe room, right when she's
asking people for money.
She's now found a, an ecosystemof support from hidden minority
opportunities and people whowork in certain industries and
(11:56):
can pull levers that peopledon't know about.
But it takes a long time to findthe right people, and that is
part of everything I've tried todo.
Like in Houston, I had a socialclub and a retail store.
We had great display area, but Ionly charged like$200 a month
for businesses to come in anddisplay and sell because.
(12:17):
It was usually their side gig.
They were all minorityentrepreneurs and wanted to see
if they could make a go of theirside gig and get away from the
grind, right?
So we're all in the same boat.
And a hundred percent it's thepeople pleasing, it's the not
being as resourced, right?
It's being afraid to ask for, wevalue what our value is because
of those and many otherbarriers.
(12:39):
I mean, I grew up in Kansas.
There were, there was nobodylike me.
Right.
Yeah.
Went to a school in the middleof the country, they listened to
country music, you know, andyeah, there's, there's so much
we can dive into so many topicson this,
Stoy (12:55):
so many topics, maybe different episodes we can, I
wanted everyone to like reallyunderstand that those
demographics, like theminorities in in, in women in
general.
Have that same feeling, thatsame concern, and everyone's
like, well, it's gotten better.
Right?
Racism's, different women canvote.
You literally just told everyonethat there is basically a secret
(13:19):
society, if you will, ofminorities out there that can
move and do things.
No one knows about'em.
Right.
You have to work your way in toget to those, and they're all
over the country, by the way.
Problem is.
They're not also integratedtogether either.
Yeah.
And that's kind of that sameexact feeling, right?
We don't want to be put outthere, we don't want to be loud.
(13:39):
We don't wanna do those thingsbecause inherently that's always
been.
A negative connotation for us.
There's always been negativenegativity behind it, and that's
why obviously I have no BSwealth, but I also am wanting,
and I don't know how it looks,but we need to connect to those
groups.
We need to do that becausethere's a lot of power, there's
a lot of wealth, there's a lotof influence in all these
(14:00):
different parts.
They just don't talk to eachother.
And I think it all stems back tothat how we just talked about
how we feel.
And even in those groups, theystill have that, regardless of
how successful they are or not.
Anika Jackson (14:12):
And, and let's be real, I wanna keep it as kind of
this under the new ageUnderground Railroad, right?
Yeah.
Because with everything going onin politics with all of the
different initiatives, we'reseeing companies roll back all
their initiatives.
Because of who's the presidentor, you know, it's hard to know
who to support these days, whichcompanies are gonna come out and
attack, um, which laws andregulations are gonna be pulled
(14:34):
back.
So I think there's more power innumbers and in us all working
together and figuring out how tonavigate that.
Mm-hmm.
Together, we don't need topublicize it to everybody else.
Yeah.
People that aren't there for us.
Stoy (14:49):
Absolutely.
I, I was, um.
Part of females in finance and Irun the Rise, which is the black
and brown segment of it.
But the CEO had went to aconference, I think it was last
year, maybe previous year inJanuary with, you know, your
Fidelity, your Schwabs, allthese big firms and and whatnot.
And they were bringing up allthe data about.
(15:10):
Where money's flowing to.
'cause we're in this wealth,this whole new wealth craze,
right?
Everything, the money's movingfrom boomers on down, et cetera.
And they had brought up the mostgrowing network or data point of
our society that is bringing inthe most wealth and is
accumulating the most, is theminority population.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Both women and predominantlyblack, but like just minorities
in general.
(15:31):
The conversation that they werebringing up wasn't about how can
we support them mm-hmm.
And continue to help them.
It was asking specificminorities who are in that
conference, how are you doingthis, and what are the ways you
are achieving this and workingwith them.
And if you read into that,everybody, they're trying to
figure out a way to get into themarket because of the money.
Anika Jackson (15:53):
Yeah.
Stoy (15:53):
And then since then, I've had a couple colleagues sell
their practices to, you know,the highest bidder.
And so you're starting to seethat movement within our own
industry of like, no white manstill has money and they're just
gonna go buy it.
And now they'll own.
You know that, that side, so theunderground railroad type
approach is the predominant waythat needs to happen.
(16:15):
We just need to be able to talkto each other through, through
that railroad.
Right.
Yeah.
And not be so segmented.
So I appreciate that.
And I know we kind of went leftturn a little bit there and
it's, but it's important.
Anika Jackson (16:25):
Yeah.
And, and if I may share a coupleother stories, I have another
friend who is a really amazingreal estate investor.
She, because she, um, grew up inBakersfield.
Her grandparents were some ofthe only black farmers who owned
their land.
They've still, the land's stillin the family there.
She's a scientist.
She was working a job.
She was putting money into 401kand was like, this is not
(16:47):
growing.
What do I need to do?
Real estate?
So she went to the library inthe bookstore every weekend with
her son for a year.
Read every real estate book shecould.
Now she's a big contractor.
She is doing multimillion dollarrenovations, but she said she
couldn't even get in the room.
And now all these older whitemen are coming to her for her
(17:10):
expertise.
And this is to your point,something we see time and time
again.
When I had my PR firm, I had acouple clients who couldn't pay
last.
You know, because of they lostthis funding or because whatever
situation they were in, whichput me back because I didn't do
the traditional, you save Xamount of money before you start
your business.
You know, this is a pandemicbusiness and I like grew.
(17:31):
So I got an offer to merge withanother bigger firm where I
thought, okay, they're gonna proprovide more security, more
stability for my clients, for myteam.
Well, most of my team left rightaway.
I quickly found out that the.
Big wigs in the firm.
They said they had certainvalues, but they were still
taking clients that werecompletely opposed to my values.
(17:53):
My clients felt like a number.
They didn't feel like they weresupported the way that I and my
team supported them because wehad similar cultural
backgrounds.
And when I left, I left aftersix months, I did not have a
backup plan.
I had no money saved, but I waslike, I can't work somewhere
that does not align.
And guess what?
Clients came back to me becausethey're like, we wanna work with
(18:13):
you.
We didn't wanna work with thembecause we could see where the
money was going.
We could see, you know, we couldsee people weren't really paying
attention to what we're doing towho we are.
We're just a number.
And so I think that's alsoreally important is, and that's
something I I see in what youmentioned, is that we're not
just numbers to each other.
We are actually people withopinions and with ideas and
(18:36):
strategies that we can get outinto the world.
And we need to be able tosupport each other in that
journey.
So anything that you're doing,I'm here for it.
Let me know how I can support.
Stoy (18:49):
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
I'm trying to put that together.
I don't know what it looks likeyet.
We'll talk about that, but it'svery important for our listeners
to understand that.
Right.
There's a difference.
There's only two different typesof people in business, in my
opinion.
Yeah.
Okay.
Quote me if I'm wrong or or giveyour opinion afterwards.
But there are those that careabout money and there are those
that care about people first.
(19:11):
There's no other.
There's no in between.
There's none of that.
It is literally, you either careabout people or you care about
money, and that is how you'regonna build your business.
The only people I care about andwork with are the ones that care
about people.
Yeah.
Because if you're providing aservice products, you name
whatever your business is, andit's wrapped around the fact
that you are caring about thatend result, the end user client,
(19:31):
whatever, the money will come.
But you are doing such a goodservice for people in humanity.
That it fulfills you in a waythat money never will.
And I, I wrap that up with the,the definition of wealth, right?
There's a argument today onthread's, argument, debate, the
word rich and wealth and thedictionary.
(19:53):
Technically they're the samething, right?
They're not though.
My definition of being rich issomeone who, it's all about
money.
They talk about how many zeroesthey flaw on it all.
It's like, I'm rich because Ihave money.
Wealthy to me, has nothing to dowith money.
It's, I'm living a hap happy,joyful life.
I'm able to provide back toothers, and I can use money as a
(20:16):
tool to help in ways that I wantto, not, that it's dictated to
me.
Mm-hmm.
And that's what's being wealthyas opposed to being rich where
it's like, yeah, I'm abillionaire.
Congratulations.
What are you doing when peopleare still starving?
They're still kids withoutclothes like that.
And so, um, I, I always do thatfull circle, but that's my
definition or not my definition.
(20:36):
That's my saying.
There's are only two people inbusiness.
Those for money and those forpeople.
Anika Jackson (20:40):
Yeah, a hundred percent agree.
And that's why we have to findthe people who are like-minded
because then we can make moneytogether.
And then it's a great experiencebecause we're putting people
first.
We're really happy and joyful.
Um.
I will, this is totally offtopic, maybe, but I've also
seen, I have dual citizenshipwith Thailand now, and my, my
(21:02):
mom lives there.
My brother and his family aremoving over there in the fall
because they have two youngboys.
They just don't wanna be in thecurrent environment.
Um, I, my daughter's gonna be inuniversity in another, you know,
year and a couple months.
So I'm really looking at, I cando more good possibly from
living there.
(21:23):
Where the food is super healthy,no preservatives, where
everybody's friendly.
I can rent a really niceapartment or condo furnished
overlooking the ocean,$300 US amonth, right?
Healthcare, like all thesebenefits, plus being part of the
culture, being a citizen, andit's disheartening to think that
(21:46):
I might have to do that because.
To live in LA as a single mom.
I read statistic that said youneed to make at least$99,000 a
year to be middle class, to belike lower middle class, right,
lower middle.
So I can't just, right now Ihave, I teach.
I podcast, I do make money formy podcast.
(22:06):
I do some coaching.
I haven't been doing as muchbecause I've been getting a lot
of other stuff in place, but I'mnow ramping that PR work, brand
visibility podcast coaching tohelp people get to that state of
being an independent podcast, ornot spending a lot of money, but
being able to make money rightaway.
I also work for nonprofitfoundation because I gotta have
(22:27):
all these things going to justpay the bills, keep the lights
on, you know, and I'm going tograd school, which I'm paying
for by myself.
I'm doing that because I knowwhat opportunities they'll
provide.
So it's a constant like chain ofthat where I'm not ever
satisfied right now with theamount of money that's coming
in.
Um, I love your definition inthinking about wealth.
(22:47):
I want a little more, you know,on the financial side too.
Um, but I feel like everythingI'm building right now will get
me there and then I can thinkabout how do I help even help
people even more.
And it's okay to make moneydoing it.
I'm not gonna charge themthings.
Other people would charge thembecause they say, oh, you could
charge 10,$15,000 for thisprogram.
(23:09):
Like, or I can charge this muchand I'm gonna set them up with
exactly my systems.
I'm gonna make sure they get theright press.
I'm gonna do this, that theother Right.
And add a benefit where I'm notjust taking, but I am walking
side by side with somebody.
Stoy (23:26):
Yeah.
And you won't.
Yes.
Fill it with a bunch of fillers.
Right.
You know, um, speaking of thefood in America, oh man, I'm a
foodie and good, good gracious.
But like, that's the reason it'sthat way is'cause it's cheap and
it's addicting.
Like those are the two reasonsin our, in our industry, in the
food industry, in America,because it's cheap, they make
more money and it's addicting.
(23:47):
It brings people back.
Yeah.
Right.
That inherently is a businessmodel, is caring more about
money than people.
A
Anika Jackson (23:55):
hundred percent.
Why isn't
Stoy (23:56):
there more out there just saying, you know what, this is
as clean as it gets.
I literally picked it yesterday,type of thing, with none of the
pesticides and all of thatstuff, because it cost cost
more.
Right?
And that's where I think thebusiness owners and stuff like
that, they, some of them go backand forth and they'll battle
that, right?
They'll battle what running abusiness in our society is
supposed to be, and that meanshigher profit margins, you know,
(24:19):
cutting, cutting costs where youcan and blah, blah, blah.
Whereas a lot of those peopleare just like.
I started business for peoplelike to take care of them.
I don't wanna lose that, thatsense, that sense of that.
Um, and that's a lot of what,when, you know, with my clients
that we, we go back and forthwith is like, there's a way to
run your life on an emotionalbusiness decision perspective.
(24:41):
Mm-hmm.
That doesn't make you cutcorners, doesn't make you feel
like you're choosing money overpeople, but does truly teach
people what your value isbecause there's the other flip
side, right?
Mm-hmm.
You don't want to devalueyourself either.
Exactly.
Um, and there's that balance.
But a lot of that I think, comesout, and you'll probably get
this talking about your PR side,is from you speaking from you
(25:01):
being the content creator onpodcast, your own personal
brand, and just saying it outloud.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Just say it.
It's the truth.
No one can go back and say like,Nope, Stoy didn't ever say that,
or, well, he just, he just madethat up.
No, I've said it on everypodcast for four years.
Right.
That stuff is what's important.
So I, I applaud that.
I wanted to get into that.
Yeah.
Talk about your podcasts.
Anika Jackson (25:22):
Oh, yeah.
Well, so I have two slash threepodcasts.
Your brand amplified came outof, I had podcasts for a couple
clients in my PR firm.
They didn't have the budget tosustain them.
I was doing all the work.
I'm the host, I, my team isproducing it, and I'm getting
all the guests, everything.
And I wasn't paying myself.
I was just paying my team fortheir work.
(25:44):
And so I was like, and I wasalso providing all these
marketing materials they weren'teven using because they didn't
understand how.
I think now people have a betteridea of.
Understanding how to utilize apodcast to its full effect.
So then I just started my own,um, because I'd, in Houston, I'd
been a radio host, an mc for alot of things.
So I was like, well, I lovetalking to people.
Right?
(26:04):
I started out as like, I'm gonnatalk to publicists.
I'm gonna ask five for 10questions and it's gonna be this
long.
'cause that's drive time in theUnited, I I was very rigid and
then I was like, this doesn'tfeel good at all.
And so now I mean it, I thinkevery 50 to a hundred episodes.
I tweak it a little bit.
I get even better atinterviewing, um, your brand.
(26:24):
Amplified is my main podcast.
We don't just talk aboutbranding, although, because, but
I think every time somebody'stalking, it is about their
brand, right?
Whether we are being explicit ornot.
But, um, we talk about so manydifferent topics from AI
founders and experts togenerative search versus SEO,
but to like, what are the othertrends coming forward to just
(26:44):
people's business stories.
Kind of like what you share, andI really love it.
It's beautiful.
I am on an ad network.
I'm in the Apple charts, allthat stuff fun.
I've tried a little bit ofeverything to figure out how to
get.
Myself there, myself, and that'swhat I wanna help other people
with.
Then I have a podcast,university of Southern
California, mediascape Insightsfrom Digital Change Makers.
(27:06):
'cause that's, I teach digitalmedia management there.
Um, and that one it plugs, youknow, it's going, but it's not
my primary focus, but it is goodand gives me more leverage at
the university.
And then I've been working witha former zen monk who's been
coaching me for about a year,off and on, um, on self-mastery
and techniques to like use myvoice.
(27:28):
So many times we're scared toshare like exactly what we're
feeling or thinking.
Use it kindly still, right?
But, and so we do on Fridays ofyour brand amplified, I do a
quick little episode with himwhere we're just, we just jump
on and talk about whatever's onwhatever comes to mind that is
going to become its own podcast.
But part of the reason I do it,I'm testing out different
(27:48):
things.
I'm repurposing those previouspodcasts on your brand amplified
as bonus episodes because themore content I have out, the
more ad revenue I get.
Do I always like the ads?
No, feel free to skip throughthem, but the checks are getting
bigger and that helps me pay forthe podcast.
Right.
And then there are othertechniques that anybody can use,
but it's something that hasreally enriched my life, the
(28:09):
connections I've made.
I would not have, I've been ableto speak on national, global
stages.
It's definitely helped me getmore teaching opportunities.
Now I have the podcastcurriculum launching, and my
vision is having an entireprogram.
We have a minor for undergrads.
We don't have.
Anything beyond that, and Iwanna expand that because this
is the best medium to getthought leadership.
(28:32):
Talk about your business, shareideas with people, just let
people get to know you on,hopefully on a little bit more
personal level.
Stoy (28:39):
Yeah.
It brings a realism, right?
I, I think.
I know that the differencebetween social media nowadays is
it used to be like, just postabout your story and be
authentic.
It's gone to like, where youreally don't know if that's how
that person lives their life, ornot as much anymore, but like
these do.
Yeah, like there's no, there'sreally, it's really tough to
hide who you are in a podcast.
(29:00):
Length of time, video, you nameit.
If you have a good host, thatis, they bring out the best in
you.
And that's just, that's amazing.
So we can definitely dive moreon that.
But as we we get to this end, Ialways have two questions.
Okay.
We can go anywhere which way wewant with them, but I always ask
these because usually I get likethe first one I ask that
everyone's like, I don't thinkanyone's ever asked me that
before.
So I take pride in that.
I'm prideful of that.
(29:21):
So first question, what is yourfirst money memory?
Oh.
Anika Jackson (29:28):
My first money memory is when I was, oh gosh,
maybe 12 years old.
Well, there's, there's a couple.
One is I would, did a lot ofbabysitting when I was like 10,
11, 12 in the neighborhood.
Didn't get paid very much.
Also look back and I'm like, Iwas making full meals for these
(29:49):
babies and people were leavingtheir kids in my hands at 10
years old and like, okay with meusing their stove.
What was that about?
So that's one.
The biggest one was I wore a lotof hand-me-downs from my.
Sister from my aunt.
And so the clothes weren'tnecessarily every, what
everybody else was wearing atschool, and I don't think I ever
quite got there, but I rememberhaving access finally to my own
(30:12):
savings account and being ableto take a little bit of money
out and go shopping for clothesthat I liked, not clothes that
were picked out for me, and thatwas a big aha moment.
Another one is my first joboutside of babysitting and stuff
was working for a carpetcleaning company.
In Topeka, Kansas and there wasstill I The yellow pages.
(30:32):
The white pages, right?
We would say, okay, you're gonnacall all the people with B.
Last name.
Just go down cold call.
And if you got a sale, there wasa dartboard and you threw a
dart, and wherever it landed waswhat your bonus was.
Stoy (30:48):
Nice.
Anika Jackson (30:49):
Which is insane to think about.
It
Stoy (30:51):
is,
Anika Jackson (30:52):
but those are me really thinking from a young
age.
I was also that kid, I wantstuff, I'm gonna go door to door
selling stuff.
And sometimes people justthought that meant I was poor
and would gimme a quarter,invite me in for cookies, right?
Instead of like, no, I want youto buy something so I can have
bigger goals.
But I think I've always beenthat person.
I've always had a hustlementality.
I've always wanted to work forwhat I get.
(31:12):
I don't wanna take shortcuts.
I wanna be authentic to who I amand that journey, and that's
something that I still do forgood or for bad these days.
Stoy (31:20):
Well, there's my follow up to that was like, think of those
and then how, how has thatmolded you today and what you're
doing today?
But hey, you, you still do them.
And I think everyone has thatmoney, memory and understanding
of like there's good and bad toevery memory, right?
And it's just how you utilizethose and how you shift those.
But if you don't recognize whatthey are, then that's usually
(31:42):
when they're a little moretrauma filled and they cause
issues when you're an adult.
So it's, it's immediate and it'samazing to recognize that you
have multiple that have moldedyou.
And you, you still abide by someof those today.
Anika Jackson (31:53):
Some of them.
I, I, yeah.
Sorry, go ahead.
No, you're
Stoy (31:57):
good.
Um, last question.
Our whole focus on No BS wealth,which you have learned and have
been a part of, is we wanna makesure that our listeners
understand they're not alone,right?
We all have a lot of shit goingon in our lives, but you're not
the only person.
And if you feel alone, that'susually when depression and
spiraling happens.
Yeah.
However, there are resources outthere for you and there's ideas
(32:18):
out there for you.
What is one idea, action step orwhatever that they can take
right now from this last part ofthe episode and can instill and
implement now that will helpthem on that first step in their
journey?
Anika Jackson (32:33):
Yeah.
Well, my no BS answer is I'vebeen in that place where I had
an almost perfect credit scoreand can do anything I.
Not in that place right now.
I've had to really struggle overthe last few years, even though
outwardly it looks like I haveall these great things going on,
because I do have amazing thingsgoing on.
That doesn't mean that my bankaccount matches it yet, but I've
(32:56):
seen the highs, I've seen thelows.
I've seen how I can get themoney.
I've understood what I can dobetter.
My piece of advice would be youdo have to think about yourself
first.
So I could completely use everydime that comes in to pay for I.
My business expenses, my schoolexpenses, you know, my daughter
(33:16):
stuff, whatever it is that's notrelated to me, but I always make
sure to take a little bit ofmoney for.
To, uh, give myself a littleprize, right?
Even if it's something like thisis gonna help my desk set up,
this is gonna help my house feela little bit better.
Um, I also make sure that I puta little bit of money aside so
(33:36):
that I can also reward myselfwhile I'm also paying for all
these other things.
I also, you know, a lot ofpeople say, get outta debt
before you start putting moneyin investment accounts.
I've decided to throw that outthe window.
You know, I'm, I have.
Because I'm a W2 at a couple ofthings, even though it really
get to mold what I do there, Ihave a PB account where they
(33:58):
match double what I put in.
I have a 401k where they don'tmatch anything, but at least I'm
putting some money away and I'mnot doing full amounts.
I'm putting at least somethingbecause I know that that's money
I'm not gonna touch.
That's gonna be there for mysecurity.
And yeah, am I expecting to bemaking a ton of money?
This year with all the differentthings I'm putting into place
(34:19):
percent, but I still wanna havethat security.
I still put a little aside togive to people that I need to
give to, right?
Like I have a nonprofit thatworks in Ghana.
There's so much need in othercountries.
So I make sure I can send alittle money, even if it's not
what I used to send.
So I really think it's importantto think about yourself and not
just.
Live from that starvationmentality, right?
(34:43):
That scarcity mentality.
But live in abundance.
Make sure that you're holdingtrue to your values.
Make sure you're setting aside alittle bit for you, um, so that
you can have some peace and joystill while you're rebuilding if
that's where you are.
Stoy (34:57):
I love it.
Couldn't say it better myself.
And we'll end it with, Heyeverybody, like, share, comment,
subscribe, not for thealgorithm.
Really don't care about that.
But it allows us to reach morepeople.
It allows us to reach you moreoften because what we're here
for, we are a team.
Now, whether she believes it ornot, I, I
Anika Jackson (35:14):
believe it.
Stoy (35:14):
We are a team that are here to help you on your, on
your next step of your journey,right?
And so reach back out,communicate so we can create
better content for you.
But also if you have a directquestion about yourself, we're,
we're here to help and we havethe resources to help.
So I appreciate you coming on, Iappreciate you saying your story
and talking through all of that.
'cause that is deep and it isreal and that's what we're all
about on OBS wealth.
(35:35):
So I appreciate you.
Anika Jackson (35:37):
Thank you.
I appreciate the invitation andthe conversation.
Stoy (35:42):
All righty.
Ooh.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.