1
00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:04,686
You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money

2
00:00:04,750 --> 00:00:08,342
nerd and financial coach. Now, tighten those purse strings

3
00:00:08,438 --> 00:00:11,406
and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff

4
00:00:11,470 --> 00:00:14,854
podcast. Hey,

5
00:00:14,894 --> 00:00:18,446
everyone. I am so excited because I have Shello Dicollier on the

6
00:00:18,470 --> 00:00:22,070
line, and she is the founder of Black Women Invest. And so

7
00:00:22,142 --> 00:00:25,414
you already know what we're going to be talking about. But how are you doing

8
00:00:25,454 --> 00:00:28,962
today, Shello? I'm doing great, and I'm so happy to be here.

9
00:00:29,078 --> 00:00:31,970
Yes. Thank you so much for coming. So let's just hop right in for the

10
00:00:32,002 --> 00:00:35,642
audience. Black women invest. Let's start at the origin

11
00:00:35,698 --> 00:00:39,426
story. Why did you decide that you wanted

12
00:00:39,450 --> 00:00:43,226
to start this initiative in this company, and why is it important for

13
00:00:43,250 --> 00:00:46,434
people to pay attention to? So black women invest

14
00:00:46,594 --> 00:00:50,138
started after I had an interesting

15
00:00:50,186 --> 00:00:53,546
experience at work. I actually got

16
00:00:53,610 --> 00:00:57,448
laid off at my dream job, and it

17
00:00:57,456 --> 00:01:01,248
was a big wake up call for me. I realized that one, I was very

18
00:01:01,296 --> 00:01:04,944
dependent on the income, and I also realized that I never

19
00:01:04,984 --> 00:01:08,592
wanted to be in that position again, where someone basically

20
00:01:08,648 --> 00:01:12,360
told me where my money was going to come from. And it was

21
00:01:12,392 --> 00:01:15,752
tough because at the time, I was working in a

22
00:01:15,768 --> 00:01:19,320
position where I got to help people learn

23
00:01:19,392 --> 00:01:23,192
about real estate investing and help them to build their portfolio. So it

24
00:01:23,208 --> 00:01:27,000
was an exciting career, and I was very happy about it. I got to travel

25
00:01:27,032 --> 00:01:30,856
with the company, but it was tough because despite

26
00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:34,496
me understanding all these things and being in the field, I

27
00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,904
myself was still very much dependent on this company

28
00:01:37,984 --> 00:01:41,096
providing me with a paycheck, and I wasn't yet

29
00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,944
free financially. So after that whole

30
00:01:44,984 --> 00:01:48,808
experience happened, that same week is when I decided to

31
00:01:48,896 --> 00:01:52,562
look for other people who were in a similar space. I wanted to

32
00:01:52,578 --> 00:01:56,394
find other people who were in the investing

33
00:01:56,434 --> 00:02:00,010
space, who were seeking more, and just,

34
00:02:00,082 --> 00:02:03,654
yeah, I was just looking for it, and that's what inspired me to start it.

35
00:02:04,034 --> 00:02:07,322
It's funny, because when I started looking online for different

36
00:02:07,378 --> 00:02:11,146
groups, I kept finding a lot of groups that were focused

37
00:02:11,170 --> 00:02:14,290
on saving and budgeting. But my question was,

38
00:02:14,402 --> 00:02:18,154
well, what about the rest of us who are past that

39
00:02:18,194 --> 00:02:21,972
stage or who want to learn how to multiply their money? And

40
00:02:21,988 --> 00:02:25,476
so that's where this whole thing kind of started. It started

41
00:02:25,540 --> 00:02:28,544
from, I guess some would say, a tragedy or whatever,

42
00:02:29,284 --> 00:02:32,876
but it was an opportunity for me, nevertheless.

43
00:02:33,020 --> 00:02:36,668
Gotcha. Gotcha. So it came out of necessity, pretty much.

44
00:02:36,716 --> 00:02:40,516
It sounds like, where you were laid off from your dream job, and

45
00:02:40,540 --> 00:02:44,364
you're like, well, I never didn't have a paycheck

46
00:02:44,404 --> 00:02:47,980
before. Like, what does this look like? And so you decided

47
00:02:48,052 --> 00:02:51,784
to start black women invest because you saw that, you know, it was just

48
00:02:51,824 --> 00:02:55,208
saving and budgeting resources out there and nothing for

49
00:02:55,256 --> 00:02:59,096
investing. So with that being said, so now that we've caught up on

50
00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,496
your story, when

51
00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,144
you thought about investing, what made you decide

52
00:03:06,224 --> 00:03:09,524
that black women were going to be your target market?

53
00:03:09,904 --> 00:03:13,084
I decided that because I am a black woman.

54
00:03:13,784 --> 00:03:17,400
And, you know, during my time, at my

55
00:03:17,432 --> 00:03:21,152
previous role, I got a chance to travel and see a

56
00:03:21,168 --> 00:03:24,424
lot of people that were in the rooms were not

57
00:03:24,504 --> 00:03:28,192
anyone who really looked like me. Right. So a majority of people

58
00:03:28,248 --> 00:03:31,976
who were seeking that investment, education were just

59
00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,764
for really, as we know, you know, white men, older people,

60
00:03:36,344 --> 00:03:40,128
people who had just a completely different story than me. And

61
00:03:40,296 --> 00:03:43,944
I found myself kind of helping those type of people and

62
00:03:43,984 --> 00:03:47,772
wondering at the same time, where are my people? Where are the people who

63
00:03:47,788 --> 00:03:51,596
look like me? Where are the black women who share this interest? So

64
00:03:51,660 --> 00:03:54,884
it was a no brainer for me to target

65
00:03:54,964 --> 00:03:57,864
this. And in all honesty, when it started,

66
00:03:58,484 --> 00:04:02,304
this community was really formed so that I can create,

67
00:04:03,284 --> 00:04:07,068
so I can make friends. Basically, I was just looking

68
00:04:07,116 --> 00:04:10,956
for friends, and it ended up developing into where it is now,

69
00:04:11,020 --> 00:04:14,742
into a full out business. That is awesome. And, yes, we are always

70
00:04:14,798 --> 00:04:18,114
looking for community. And especially as black people,

71
00:04:19,334 --> 00:04:22,942
it doesn't matter where you go. If we see another person

72
00:04:22,998 --> 00:04:26,194
that looks like us, we're like, we gravitate over to them.

73
00:04:26,654 --> 00:04:30,054
So I can definitely see that. And I know in my journey as

74
00:04:30,094 --> 00:04:33,662
well, I was reading the Kiplinger personal Finance Money

75
00:04:33,718 --> 00:04:37,238
magazine, all these blogs and podcasts, and nothing was really

76
00:04:37,326 --> 00:04:41,014
aimed at people that look like me. You can tell

77
00:04:41,094 --> 00:04:44,806
from the different conversations and the pictures in the magazine who

78
00:04:44,830 --> 00:04:48,430
it was really aimed at. And so I'm glad that you saw that gap and

79
00:04:48,462 --> 00:04:51,902
decided to step into that, because it's very much needed.

80
00:04:51,998 --> 00:04:55,846
Now, when we think about black women invest, what are some things that

81
00:04:55,910 --> 00:04:59,406
you go over, or what are some topics that you cover with your

82
00:04:59,430 --> 00:05:02,814
community? Yeah. So we talk about

83
00:05:02,894 --> 00:05:06,366
investing as a whole. So

84
00:05:06,470 --> 00:05:09,790
stock market investing, real estate investing,

85
00:05:09,902 --> 00:05:13,670
retirement planning is a big one. I do believe

86
00:05:13,742 --> 00:05:17,460
that that's something that us as a community needs to speak about a little bit

87
00:05:17,492 --> 00:05:21,324
more often, because, unfortunately, people just aren't retiring,

88
00:05:21,484 --> 00:05:25,244
and black women specifically are retiring at an even

89
00:05:25,324 --> 00:05:29,140
lower rate than others. Right. So we talk about

90
00:05:29,172 --> 00:05:32,676
retirement planning and what that looks like. We have different

91
00:05:32,740 --> 00:05:36,156
programs that are set up so that people can jump right in

92
00:05:36,220 --> 00:05:39,684
and basically learn and develop their

93
00:05:39,724 --> 00:05:43,472
skills at any stage that they're in. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay.

94
00:05:43,528 --> 00:05:47,360
So when I go visit the black woman invest website, which I'll

95
00:05:47,392 --> 00:05:50,944
do after this, when I go

96
00:05:51,064 --> 00:05:54,768
visit the website, what is it that you

97
00:05:54,816 --> 00:05:58,144
want me to take away from all of this? So, like, let's say somebody's

98
00:05:58,184 --> 00:06:01,768
listening and they're like, you know, I'm right there with you, Shello.

99
00:06:01,856 --> 00:06:05,664
I already know budgeting, already know savings. I have savings. I'm ready to step

100
00:06:05,704 --> 00:06:09,152
into investing. What is the first thing that you recommend people

101
00:06:09,208 --> 00:06:13,024
do? Well? Okay, so I recommend two things, right. But the very first

102
00:06:13,064 --> 00:06:16,784
thing was probably become a member. So we have

103
00:06:16,864 --> 00:06:20,640
in person, we have in person chapter meetings that happen all the

104
00:06:20,672 --> 00:06:24,112
time in different cities, and then we also have an

105
00:06:24,168 --> 00:06:27,968
online membership so that people can take advantage of the resources

106
00:06:28,016 --> 00:06:31,840
that are available there. So I would recommend that people join

107
00:06:31,872 --> 00:06:35,084
the community. And that's particularly important because

108
00:06:35,484 --> 00:06:39,124
you don't want to just learn on your own. It's easy to

109
00:06:39,204 --> 00:06:42,820
fall behind or, you know, just, like, start a course,

110
00:06:42,892 --> 00:06:46,476
and then you just kind of be like, okay, I'm going to get to it.

111
00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:49,516
And then you never get to it. Like, life gets in the way, essentially. And

112
00:06:49,540 --> 00:06:53,100
so a way to avoid that from happening is becoming a

113
00:06:53,132 --> 00:06:56,588
member of the community and actually making friends and

114
00:06:56,636 --> 00:07:00,148
connecting. So we have some really great, thriving

115
00:07:00,236 --> 00:07:04,076
chapters throughout the country. So I would say that's the first thing.

116
00:07:04,220 --> 00:07:08,036
And then the second thing I would say is

117
00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:11,708
to seek some investment knowledge. So

118
00:07:11,756 --> 00:07:15,252
really assessing, where are you right now? What do you want to learn? Where do

119
00:07:15,268 --> 00:07:19,052
you want to be? And kind of asking yourself these types of questions

120
00:07:19,188 --> 00:07:22,876
and then hopefully deciding from there which route makes the

121
00:07:22,900 --> 00:07:26,492
most sense. So that is what I would say is the second step for you.

122
00:07:26,628 --> 00:07:30,260
We have, like, a conference coming up, for example. We have international

123
00:07:30,372 --> 00:07:33,900
real estate tours that we offer. We also have courses and

124
00:07:33,932 --> 00:07:37,706
programs. So it can feel a little bit, you

125
00:07:37,730 --> 00:07:41,570
know, like, overwhelming potentially. But I think when you do that

126
00:07:41,602 --> 00:07:45,330
reflection, you'll figure out, you know, what's the best next step. And that

127
00:07:45,402 --> 00:07:48,954
next step should be education focused. Gotcha.

128
00:07:48,994 --> 00:07:52,410
Gotcha. So you have different chapters all over the country.

129
00:07:52,562 --> 00:07:56,362
If someone's listening and they're like, well, I want to see if there's a chapter

130
00:07:56,418 --> 00:08:00,138
close to me. Do you have an option for that on the website? Yeah.

131
00:08:00,306 --> 00:08:04,058
Yeah. So you can go to blackwomaninvest.com chapters, but

132
00:08:04,106 --> 00:08:07,818
on the homepage, you'll also see an option where it says, become a member.

133
00:08:07,906 --> 00:08:11,488
And we list out where the current locations are so you

134
00:08:11,496 --> 00:08:15,320
can take a look there. And then even if someone is listening and

135
00:08:15,352 --> 00:08:18,952
they want to join, but there is nothing nearby. You can

136
00:08:19,008 --> 00:08:22,808
still join the online membership and get the same benefits. The only

137
00:08:22,856 --> 00:08:26,604
difference is that you're not meeting in person, but you still have,

138
00:08:27,304 --> 00:08:31,136
you know, you still have access to different resources. You'll still

139
00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,638
be able to meet virtually a few times a month and

140
00:08:34,776 --> 00:08:38,322
still be able to make connections and make friends. It's just that you're not

141
00:08:38,378 --> 00:08:41,970
physically meeting. Yeah. And that makes complete sense. You know,

142
00:08:42,042 --> 00:08:45,802
it's so crazy how just having that extra layer of support

143
00:08:45,858 --> 00:08:49,418
and accountability can make a huge difference. You know, we see it with the Weight

144
00:08:49,466 --> 00:08:53,082
Watchers groups and other types of groups that pop up

145
00:08:53,258 --> 00:08:56,834
where once you have that group, that team,

146
00:08:56,954 --> 00:09:00,674
that sisterhood with you, you're able to stick to your goals

147
00:09:00,754 --> 00:09:04,258
a little better. So I just wanna ask another

148
00:09:04,346 --> 00:09:07,842
question really quick. Cause my brain is going as talking through

149
00:09:07,898 --> 00:09:11,490
this. If we have people at different

150
00:09:11,682 --> 00:09:15,410
investing levels, would there be room for them as

151
00:09:15,442 --> 00:09:19,146
well? So, like, let's say, for instance, somebody's listening and they're like, okay,

152
00:09:19,170 --> 00:09:22,530
I know the basics of investing. Is this just going to be

153
00:09:22,562 --> 00:09:26,138
beginner level or is there an advanced option? I just want to make sure

154
00:09:26,186 --> 00:09:29,634
that we're clear on who we're talking to. Yeah.

155
00:09:29,754 --> 00:09:33,604
So within our chapters, we have people of all stages

156
00:09:33,684 --> 00:09:37,452
that join, and so all of our chapter meetings are

157
00:09:37,468 --> 00:09:40,744
really catered to accommodate just about everyone.

158
00:09:41,164 --> 00:09:44,356
So, for example, when we meet with the chapters, we have different

159
00:09:44,420 --> 00:09:47,972
professionals that come in and we have a specific topic every single

160
00:09:48,028 --> 00:09:51,780
month. And amongst those conversations, you'll

161
00:09:51,812 --> 00:09:55,540
find that these financial professionals that speak, they'll have

162
00:09:55,652 --> 00:09:59,232
a variety of resources available for basically

163
00:09:59,288 --> 00:10:02,624
any level that you're at. So we make sure that within our

164
00:10:02,664 --> 00:10:06,344
conversations, we are addressing everyone in the room.

165
00:10:06,424 --> 00:10:09,312
And even within the programs that we have within

166
00:10:09,368 --> 00:10:12,864
BWI online, you'll see that we have different

167
00:10:12,904 --> 00:10:16,488
programs in place and you'll be able to kind of see where

168
00:10:16,536 --> 00:10:18,764
you are based on.

169
00:10:19,904 --> 00:10:23,448
Yeah, basically, you'll be able to go onto the site and see where you are

170
00:10:23,496 --> 00:10:27,062
and make a decision as to which one really fits you.

171
00:10:27,208 --> 00:10:30,706
So there are a lot of people who join and they have that

172
00:10:30,730 --> 00:10:34,578
foundation. And so maybe the first level of training

173
00:10:34,626 --> 00:10:37,706
is not for you, but at the end of the day, you can take the

174
00:10:37,730 --> 00:10:41,410
next thing. Right. You can join the conference or you can

175
00:10:41,482 --> 00:10:45,234
participate in our upcoming mastermind, and then you can also,

176
00:10:45,314 --> 00:10:49,034
of course, join the chapters. So there's really a place for everyone. Yes,

177
00:10:49,074 --> 00:10:52,810
and I love all these different touch points. I mean, you've mentioned the

178
00:10:52,842 --> 00:10:56,318
communities, you've mentioned the online and in person

179
00:10:56,466 --> 00:11:00,158
mentioned the masterminds. Like all of these different things are

180
00:11:00,206 --> 00:11:03,982
awesome for people that are just starting off and investing and those that are already

181
00:11:04,038 --> 00:11:07,494
seasoned just to have some community around them. So I love this

182
00:11:07,534 --> 00:11:11,094
initiative and what you're doing now. Let's get into the business

183
00:11:11,174 --> 00:11:14,718
side just for a little bit, because there might be someone listening.

184
00:11:14,766 --> 00:11:18,606
Like, I really have this cool idea that I need to

185
00:11:18,630 --> 00:11:22,326
put out there, and I know there will be a community for this. So

186
00:11:22,390 --> 00:11:26,006
I want to just briefly hit on how you started

187
00:11:26,070 --> 00:11:29,598
this community. What did that process look like? Were you on

188
00:11:29,646 --> 00:11:33,150
Facebook just, like, searching for the different things,

189
00:11:33,302 --> 00:11:37,134
or did you already have a community of like minded individuals like

190
00:11:37,174 --> 00:11:40,262
you? How did that start when you first built the community?

191
00:11:40,398 --> 00:11:44,110
Yeah. So when I first built it, I was searching

192
00:11:44,142 --> 00:11:47,630
on Facebook. At the time, Facebook groups were

193
00:11:47,782 --> 00:11:51,062
pretty popular, and so I really sought

194
00:11:51,118 --> 00:11:54,648
after. Like, I really use that platform to seek

195
00:11:54,736 --> 00:11:58,288
after people who are in the same space. So that's

196
00:11:58,336 --> 00:12:01,884
where I started it as well. So I started off as a Facebook community,

197
00:12:02,224 --> 00:12:06,056
and it was free. It is still free, and we still run it. That's

198
00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,720
where our primary touch point is with a lot of the members and,

199
00:12:09,832 --> 00:12:13,480
you know, transitioning from. So one of the things that we're working on right now

200
00:12:13,552 --> 00:12:17,304
is we're transitioning from Facebook into a different

201
00:12:17,384 --> 00:12:20,684
platform to help accommodate people who are not on Facebook

202
00:12:21,104 --> 00:12:24,720
and to really help people to focus and also be

203
00:12:24,752 --> 00:12:28,264
able to keep track of everything that's happening in one place.

204
00:12:28,424 --> 00:12:32,272
So initially, like, on the business side, I always tell people, you

205
00:12:32,288 --> 00:12:35,728
don't need any fancy tech. You don't need to pay for anything just yet until

206
00:12:35,776 --> 00:12:39,176
you start making money. So I was the person who

207
00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,884
used everything that was free, that was available.

208
00:12:42,824 --> 00:12:46,584
So for any of the entrepreneurs on here, thinking about how do they start

209
00:12:46,624 --> 00:12:50,386
their community, targeting people on Facebook would probably be the

210
00:12:50,410 --> 00:12:54,226
very best thing, because it is a free community that you can start, and then

211
00:12:54,250 --> 00:12:57,890
you can, you know, grab all the extra free tools to cultivate

212
00:12:57,922 --> 00:13:01,706
it. I love that. I love that. So thank you so much,

213
00:13:01,730 --> 00:13:05,434
Shella, for coming on the podcast today and talking about black

214
00:13:05,474 --> 00:13:09,210
women invest, because I believe that is something that's important, and I'm sure

215
00:13:09,242 --> 00:13:13,002
the audience does, too. Now, if people were interested, I know you said

216
00:13:13,018 --> 00:13:16,210
it before, but let's go ahead and say it again. If people were

217
00:13:16,282 --> 00:13:19,882
interested in finding out more about this initiative

218
00:13:19,978 --> 00:13:23,642
or about you, where could they find you? Yeah, you can find

219
00:13:23,698 --> 00:13:27,434
us on blackwomaninvest.com, or you can join

220
00:13:27,474 --> 00:13:30,906
our Facebook group, and it is black women invest

221
00:13:31,050 --> 00:13:34,482
on Facebook. And you can also follow us on Instagram

222
00:13:34,538 --> 00:13:38,386
blackwomen invest and that would be

223
00:13:38,410 --> 00:13:42,130
the primary ways to get connected. That is so awesome. So I will

224
00:13:42,162 --> 00:13:45,450
make sure I have all of those links in the show notes for you. If

225
00:13:45,482 --> 00:13:49,298
you are listening and doing something else, don't worry, just hit those show notes

226
00:13:49,346 --> 00:13:52,966
and I'll have those for you. So thank you so much Shello again for coming

227
00:13:53,030 --> 00:13:56,246
on and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. All right, thank

228
00:13:56,270 --> 00:13:59,966
you. Thanks for having me. Bye. Thank you

229
00:13:59,990 --> 00:14:03,694
for listening, joining and being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF podcast this

230
00:14:03,734 --> 00:14:07,358
week. You can check TiFf out every Thursday for a new Money talk

231
00:14:07,406 --> 00:14:11,246
podcast, but if you just can't wait until next week, you can listen to

232
00:14:11,270 --> 00:14:12,206
previous podcast

233
00:14:12,270 --> 00:14:16,054
episodes@moneytalkwitht.com or

234
00:14:16,094 --> 00:14:19,818
follow Tiffany on all social media platforms at Moneytalk

235
00:14:19,866 --> 00:14:23,354
with t. Until next time, spend wise by

236
00:14:23,394 --> 00:14:27,138
spending less than you make. A word to the money wise is always

237
00:14:27,226 --> 00:14:27,554
sufficient.