NoBS Wealth

Ep. 125 - How Anika Jackson Built an Empire as a Single Mom

• NO BS Podcast • Episode 135

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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:

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!

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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.

Stoy:

Hey, all my single mothers out there who are doing everything under the sun, did you know that you're not alone? I have my guest today, Anika Jackson, who also was a mom, entrepreneur, uh, solo mom, doing amazing things, probably more than I've ever thought of doing while being a single mother. So we're gonna go through her story today and how that correlates to who you are and what you're doing in today's world, and letting you know that you'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:

Thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here and, and chop it up.

Stoy:

So let's dive right into that right one, being a single mother, uh, I was raised by a single mother, so I understand some of that. But also, not only were you a single mother, you, you, you've done like a hundred different things, amazing things while being a single mother, not just one thing. So talk us through that journey from the start, and then how are you feeling now after I've gone through it and successful?

Anika Jackson:

Well, there's that adage that you should never just trust your partner with all the financial. Situation, right? Whether it's being the sole owner, knowing what bills are being paid, when knowing how much money is in the bank. My ex-husband and I did have a small shared bank account that I could use for things, but I was also, I will say a smug married, not thinking that I was a second wife. I had a sign of prenup, you know, saying that I basically got nothing and I signed it because we were so close to the wedding. I panicked, um, and going through all this situation and I had made six figures. I had a good job before I got married. Then of course you get married maybe. You need to be around more because your husband travels, then you have a kid, then you're really involved in school. So I did do some really great things being a stay at home mom and I did have some small businesses that related to the family. Um, I did stuff with, you know, books as born books and the other little things I could fit around my daughter's schedule or that would give back stuff to her school. We also did real estate investment and I managed that entirely on my own of like. Taking a little bit of money, buying a house, leveraging it to buy four houses, turning that into a line of credit, being able to buy a lot other, other property. But that all went away when I got divorced and you, you know, I didn't really realize it takes a while for your brain to get used to spending less money being in a whole different tax bracket, different situation. So I'd always had a series of businesses, I'd always been very involved in charity and philanthropy, 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, but then I was the mom who was the, you know, my kid was the last person being picked up at school, and that didn't feel good either because I'd always been there for her. Um, I was also raised by a single mom. So I saw a lot of her example, like my daughter's 16 now. I still make hot breakfast every morning. I pack her lunches. You know, I, she's my number one priority. My mom would come home, I was latchkey kid'cause that's the age bracket that I'm in, gen X. Um, and uh, you know, I knew how to do all that stuff when I was young, but she always showed up. She'd make us dinner, we would play games together, hang out after work. So I don't know when she had time for herself, and that's something that I've really seen. I wanna be that mom, but I also wanna value that I'm my own person and that's what I need to model to my daughter. I need her to not just to see my success, but also see the trouble, the issues, the hard parts of it, because that humanizes us. And it also shows her, it's not just this glossy picture. Right that you read about in the newspaper. A magazine for the magazines that exist nowadays or see on tv. So that takes us to 2019 and I moved back from Houston to Los Angeles. My whole story is like, I grew up in Kansas, lived in Chicago, la, San Francisco, Houston, so we moving back to la. I thought the situation was gonna be very different than it was moving back. So I was thinking, okay, my ex said he'll do X, Y, Z for me to help me get a fresh start.'cause he and my daughter both wanted to move back. I had a business in Houston I had to leave behind. And so there was this whole situation where I really, you know, I had to go through it. Like when I moved back, I had spent all my money moving. I had to go on food stamps.'cause I was having a really hard time getting work for somebody else. I had to reestablish myself in this market. And also my skillset was all over the place because I hadn't been an employee that much in my career. Right. So I, I know that's a, probably a little bit longer than you wanted, but it's a, it's also very truncated version.

Stoy:

No, and, and obviously we all have our stories and they go a lot deeper. I am a hundred percent sure of that, but it gives us a highlight of who you are, where you came from, right? And I think your story, while different than others, really aligns with a lot of people as well, right? Specifically women who are single mothers or going through divorce or going to be going through a divorce or thinking about it. These are all avenues and things that go through your mind. Both, you know, mentally and physically, but like emotionally draining as well. And so kudos to you to, one, getting through the emotional standpoint and getting out and getting ahead and now being, you know, being your own badass boss because that is not, that's few, right? It's rare and it's just amazing to see. So you've gone through this journey. Go ahead. What were you gonna say? Oh,

Anika Jackson:

no, go ahead.

Stoy:

Oh, I say, so you've gone through this journey Goods bads, indifference. When you were thinking of obviously doing your, your book and, and all of your businesses with entrepreneurship, what was the singular factor getting off food stamps, and then what was that next move that kind of launched the rest of your career?

Anika Jackson:

Well, and, and the food stamp thing was a really pivotal moment. So I want people to not be afraid to use the resources that are out there for us, because a lot of times we feel shame. But number one, they're really not that easy to get. You have to do a lot of paperwork, a lot of reporting, you know, and what happened is I've moved back, I couldn't find work because again, my skillset was varied and most of the jobs were looking for somebody with a lot of specification, a specialization in one area. So I got some, I picked up some little work from friends who I'd worked with before. You know, I was really looking for a role in pr. I had done branding, pr, marketing, a whole bunch of different things. Um, and I had gone to the Walmart grocery store. When I dropped my daughter to school, was like, I know that groceries are affordable here. I need to get stuff for us to eat. And my card was declined. And, um, that was a big aha moment because. The store manager felt called to help me and she said, pick out what you need for you and your baby. And, you know, not so baby, but you know, young kid. And, um, and she's like, what do you need for to get you through the next few days? And I had been the person who used to do that for other people. So it was very hard to let go of ego and to realize that this is my reality now, and I need to accept help and be open to it. That's when I said, okay, what else can I do? I need to get on food stamps. So that, I kept applying, applying for several months and I finally went outside, um, one day 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 out there so much and that was the turning point. When then I got a call to do PR for somebody else's clients, then, you know, shortly after Pandemic happens. I start getting client referrals for mostly minority owned tech businesses, but all social good, right? Mm-hmm. And so that was what I built my career on during the pandemic is all of a sudden I was getting all these clients, I got to start my own business again, but with money coming in. And I still made a lot of mistakes because at that point I still was trying to be people pleaser. Help everybody else make sure they were paid before I was paid. You know, all the things that we do sometimes when we we're not used to being actually thinking with that business mind. So, you know, it was a big shift, something I've continuously learned. But going from 2019, looking for a job, being on food stamps to today, I am a university professor teaching grad school. I just created a podcast curriculum, which you and I'll have to talk about later for University of Southern California at the graduate level that is launching in the fall. I have two podcasts, a third with 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, getting my MBA with specialty in AI and ml, and I am 50. And I am the most me I've ever been because I'm able to pursue these opportunities, and part of that came from putting myself out there continuously, being vulnerable, being willing to share the good, the bad, the ugly. Then also I. Asking people, talking to people about, 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 professor. So all these things just kind of snowballed and I, if I had stayed that person, I was, I would never have explored this entire world, this entire reality. Been able to build up all of this amazing stuff that is because of me, not because of who I'm married to.

Stoy:

Yeah. We're taught, and I'm going to put women and minorities into a group. We are very similar in a lot of ways we think and talk, but I'm gonna put us into a group from this perspective, growing up with a single mother and you know, being a black child and all of that, we weren't allowed to be selfish. Mm-hmm. I use that loosely right now. We weren't allowed to be selfish to think for ourselves and do things for us first. It was always like, people please get things done for others. I don't even remember the time that I've transitioned to that. I think mine was probably, probably like three years ago. I think 2023 is when my aha of why I need to get the hell out of my partnership with that situation was the same, very much similar situation. Have you found in your work consultant and all of those things that you're helping a lot of people with that, that's a common theme that women, minorities have this like. Inability to be selfish and I keep using selfish'cause it's a trigger word for people, but truthfully like,

Anika Jackson:

yeah,

Stoy:

it's tough for us to think about ourselves first. Have you seen that as like a common theme?

Anika Jackson:

A hundred percent, no question. I'm also my, I'm first generation, my mom's from Thailand and. In that journey. Same thing, right? Thailand's land of smiles. We, we have a smile if we're mad, if we're sad, if we're happy. But you don't show people how you really feel and you also are there to serve. And I do see that, and I, part of it is a lot of people that I still talk to, clients that I still have, that I love, you know, that will help out whether they're paying me or not at this point. Some only, you know, for a couple I'll just, but, um, I see that there, they still have these struggles. Like there is an amazing. My, um, black woman entrepreneur in, you know, she's from Oakland. Her parents or her grandparents were Black Panthers. When she's looking for funding for her business, which by the way, she has patents, she goes all around the world consulting other people for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. She had to bring a white man in the room, right when she's asking people for money. She's now found a, an ecosystem of support from hidden minority opportunities and people who work in certain industries and can pull levers that people don't know about. But it takes a long time to find the right people, and that is part of everything I've tried to do. Like in Houston, I had a social club and a retail store. We had great display area, but I only charged like$200 a month for businesses to come in and display and sell because. It was usually their side gig. They were all minority entrepreneurs and wanted to see if they could make a go of their side gig and get away from the grind, right? So we're all in the same boat. And a hundred percent it's the people pleasing, it's the not being as resourced, right? It's being afraid to ask for, we value what our value is because of those and many other barriers. I mean, I grew up in Kansas. There were, there was nobody like me. Right. Yeah. Went to a school in the middle of the country, they listened to country music, you know, and yeah, there's, there's so much we can dive into so many topics on this,

Stoy:

so many topics, maybe different episodes we can, I wanted everyone to like really understand that those demographics, like the minorities in in, in women in general. Have that same feeling, that same concern, and everyone's like, well, it's gotten better. Right? Racism's, different women can vote. You literally just told everyone that there is basically a secret society, if you will, of minorities out there that can move and do things. No one knows about'em. Right. You have to work your way in to get to those, and they're all over the country, by the way. Problem is. They're not also integrated together either. Yeah. And that's kind of that same exact feeling, right? We don't want to be put out there, we don't want to be loud. We don't wanna do those things because inherently that's always been. A negative connotation for us. There's always been negative negativity behind it, and that's why obviously I have no BS wealth, 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 because there's a lot of power, there's a lot of wealth, there's a lot of influence in all these different parts. They just don't talk to each other. And I think it all stems back to that how we just talked about how we feel. And even in those groups, they still have that, regardless of how successful they are or not.

Anika Jackson:

And, and let's be real, I wanna keep it as kind of this under the new age Underground Railroad, right? Yeah. Because with everything going on in politics with all of the different initiatives, we're seeing companies roll back all their initiatives. Because of who's the president or, you know, it's hard to know who to support these days, which companies are gonna come out and attack, um, which laws and regulations are gonna be pulled back. So I think there's more power in numbers and in us all working together and figuring out how to navigate that. Mm-hmm. Together, we don't need to publicize it to everybody else. Yeah. People that aren't there for us.

Stoy:

Absolutely. I, I was, um. Part of females in finance and I run the Rise, which is the black and brown segment of it. But the CEO had went to a conference, I think it was last year, maybe previous year in January with, you know, your Fidelity, your Schwabs, all these big firms and and whatnot. And they were bringing up all the data about. Where money's flowing to.'cause we're in this wealth, this whole new wealth craze, right? Everything, the money's moving from boomers on down, et cetera. And they had brought up the most growing network or data point of our society that is bringing in the most wealth and is accumulating the most, is the minority population. Mm-hmm. Right. Both women and predominantly black, but like just minorities in general. The conversation that they were bringing up wasn't about how can we support them mm-hmm. And continue to help them. It was asking specific minorities who are in that conference, how are you doing this, and what are the ways you are achieving this and working with them. And if you read into that, everybody, they're trying to figure out a way to get into the market because of the money.

Anika Jackson:

Yeah.

Stoy:

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 see that movement within our own industry of like, no white man still has money and they're just gonna go buy it. And now they'll own. You know that, that side, so the underground railroad type approach is the predominant way that needs to happen. We just need to be able to talk to each other through, through that railroad. Right. Yeah. And not be so segmented. So I appreciate that. And I know we kind of went left turn a little bit there and it's, but it's important.

Anika Jackson:

Yeah. And, and if I may share a couple other stories, I have another friend who is a really amazing real estate investor. She, because she, um, grew up in Bakersfield. Her grandparents were some of the only black farmers who owned their land. They've still, the land's still in the family there. She's a scientist. She was working a job. She was putting money into 401k and was like, this is not growing. What do I need to do? Real estate? So she went to the library in the bookstore every weekend with her son for a year. Read every real estate book she could. Now she's a big contractor. She is doing multimillion dollar renovations, but she said she couldn't even get in the room. And now all these older white men are coming to her for her expertise. And this is to your point, something we see time and time again. When I had my PR firm, I had a couple clients who couldn't pay last. You know, because of they lost this funding or because whatever situation they were in, which put me back because I didn't do the traditional, you save X amount of money before you start your business. You know, this is a pandemic business and I like grew. So I got an offer to merge with another bigger firm where I thought, okay, they're gonna pro provide more security, more stability for my clients, for my team. Well, most of my team left right away. I quickly found out that the. Big wigs in the firm. They said they had certain values, but they were still taking clients that were completely opposed to my values. My clients felt like a number. They didn't feel like they were supported the way that I and my team supported them because we had similar cultural backgrounds. And when I left, I left after six months, I did not have a backup plan. I had no money saved, but I was like, I can't work somewhere that does not align. And guess what? Clients came back to me because they're like, we wanna work with you. We didn't wanna work with them because we could see where the money was going. We could see, you know, we could see people weren't really paying attention to what we're doing to who we are. We're just a number. And so I think that's also really important is, and that's something I I see in what you mentioned, is that we're not just numbers to each other. We are actually people with opinions and with ideas and strategies that we can get out into the world. And we need to be able to support each other in that journey. So anything that you're doing, I'm here for it. Let me know how I can support.

Stoy:

Yeah, for sure. For sure. I'm trying to put that together. I don't know what it looks like yet. We'll talk about that, but it's very important for our listeners to understand that. Right. There's a difference. There's only two different types of people in business, in my opinion. Yeah. Okay. Quote me if I'm wrong or or give your opinion afterwards. But there are those that care about money and there are those that care about people first. There's no other. There's no in between. There's none of that. It is literally, you either care about people or you care about money, and that is how you're gonna build your business. The only people I care about and work with are the ones that care about people. Yeah. Because if you're providing a service products, you name whatever your business is, and it's wrapped around the fact that you are caring about that end result, the end user client, whatever, the money will come. But you are doing such a good service for people in humanity. That it fulfills you in a way that money never will. And I, I wrap that up with the, the definition of wealth, right? There's a argument today on thread's, argument, debate, the word rich and wealth and the dictionary. Technically they're the same thing, right? They're not though. My definition of being rich is someone who, it's all about money. They talk about how many zeroes they flaw on it all. It's like, I'm rich because I have money. Wealthy to me, has nothing to do with money. It's, I'm living a hap happy, joyful life. I'm able to provide back to others, and I can use money as a tool to help in ways that I want to, not, that it's dictated to me. Mm-hmm. And that's what's being wealthy as opposed to being rich where it's like, yeah, I'm a billionaire. Congratulations. What are you doing when people are still starving? They're still kids without clothes like that. And so, um, I, I always do that full circle, but that's my definition or not my definition. That's my saying. There's are only two people in business. Those for money and those for people.

Anika Jackson:

Yeah, a hundred percent agree. And that's why we have to find the people who are like-minded because then we can make money together. And then it's a great experience because we're putting people first. We're really happy and joyful. Um. I will, this is totally off topic, maybe, but I've also seen, I have dual citizenship with Thailand now, and my, my mom lives there. My brother and his family are moving over there in the fall because they have two young boys. They just don't wanna be in the current environment. Um, I, my daughter's gonna be in university in another, you know, year and a couple months. So I'm really looking at, I can do more good possibly from living there. Where the food is super healthy, no preservatives, where everybody's friendly. I can rent a really nice apartment or condo furnished overlooking the ocean,$300 US a month, right? Healthcare, like all these benefits, plus being part of the culture, being a citizen, and it's disheartening to think that I might have to do that because. To live in LA as a single mom. I read statistic that said you need to make at least$99,000 a year to be middle class, to be like lower middle class, right, lower middle. So I can't just, right now I have, I teach. I podcast, I do make money for my podcast. I do some coaching. I haven't been doing as much because I've been getting a lot of other stuff in place, but I'm now ramping that PR work, brand visibility podcast coaching to help people get to that state of being an independent podcast, or not spending a lot of money, but being able to make money right away. I also work for nonprofit foundation because I gotta have all these things going to just pay the bills, keep the lights on, you know, and I'm going to grad school, which I'm paying for by myself. I'm doing that because I know what opportunities they'll provide. So it's a constant like chain of that where I'm not ever satisfied right now with the amount of money that's coming in. Um, I love your definition in thinking about wealth. I want a little more, you know, on the financial side too. Um, but I feel like everything I'm building right now will get me there and then I can think about how do I help even help people even more. And it's okay to make money doing it. I'm not gonna charge them things. Other people would charge them because they say, oh, you could charge 10,$15,000 for this program. Like, or I can charge this much and I'm gonna set them up with exactly my systems. I'm gonna make sure they get the right press. I'm gonna do this, that the other Right. And add a benefit where I'm not just taking, but I am walking side by side with somebody.

Stoy:

Yeah. And you won't. Yes. Fill it with a bunch of fillers. Right. You know, um, speaking of the food in America, oh man, I'm a foodie and good, good gracious. But like, that's the reason it's that way is'cause it's cheap and it's addicting. Like those are the two reasons in our, in our industry, in the food industry, in America, because it's cheap, they make more money and it's addicting. It brings people back. Yeah. Right. That inherently is a business model, is caring more about money than people. A

Anika Jackson:

hundred percent. Why isn't

Stoy:

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 that stuff, because it cost cost more. Right? And that's where I think the business owners and stuff like that, they, some of them go back and forth and they'll battle that, right? They'll battle what running a business in our society is supposed to be, and that means higher profit margins, you know, cutting, cutting costs where you can and blah, blah, blah. Whereas a lot of those people are just like. I started business for people like to take care of them. I don't wanna lose that, that sense, that sense of that. Um, and that's a lot of what, when, you know, with my clients that we, we go back and forth with is like, there's a way to run your life on an emotional business decision perspective. Mm-hmm. That doesn't make you cut corners, doesn't make you feel like you're choosing money over people, but does truly teach people what your value is because there's the other flip side, right? Mm-hmm. You don't want to devalue yourself either. Exactly. Um, and there's that balance. But a lot of that I think, comes out, and you'll probably get this talking about your PR side, is from you speaking from you being the content creator on podcast, your own personal brand, and just saying it out loud. 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 made that up. No, I've said it on every podcast 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:

Oh, yeah. Well, so I have two slash three podcasts. Your brand amplified came out of, I had podcasts for a couple clients in my PR firm. They didn't have the budget to sustain them. I was doing all the work. I'm the host, I, my team is producing it, and I'm getting all the guests, everything. And I wasn't paying myself. I was just paying my team for their work. And so I was like, and I was also providing all these marketing materials they weren't even using because they didn't understand how. I think now people have a better idea of. Understanding how to utilize a podcast 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 a lot of things. So I was like, well, I love talking to people. Right? I started out as like, I'm gonna talk to publicists. I'm gonna ask five for 10 questions and it's gonna be this long.'cause that's drive time in the United, I I was very rigid and then I was like, this doesn't feel good at all. And so now I mean it, I think every 50 to a hundred episodes. I tweak it a little bit. I get even better at interviewing, um, your brand. Amplified is my main podcast. We don't just talk about branding, although, because, but I think every time somebody's talking, it is about their brand, right? Whether we are being explicit or not. But, um, we talk about so many different topics from AI founders and experts to generative search versus SEO, but to like, what are the other trends coming forward to just people's business stories. Kind of like what you share, and I really love it. It's beautiful. I am on an ad network. I'm in the Apple charts, all that stuff fun. I've tried a little bit of everything to figure out how to get. Myself there, myself, and that's what I wanna help other people with. Then I have a podcast, university of Southern California, mediascape Insights from Digital Change Makers.'cause that's, I teach digital media management there. Um, and that one it plugs, you know, it's going, but it's not my primary focus, but it is good and gives me more leverage at the university. And then I've been working with a former zen monk who's been coaching me for about a year, off and on, um, on self-mastery and techniques to like use my voice. So many times we're scared to share like exactly what we're feeling or thinking. Use it kindly still, right? But, and so we do on Fridays of your brand amplified, I do a quick little episode with him where we're just, we just jump on and talk about whatever's on whatever comes to mind that is going to become its own podcast. But part of the reason I do it, I'm testing out different things. I'm repurposing those previous podcasts on your brand amplified as bonus episodes because the more content I have out, the more ad revenue I get. Do I always like the ads? No, feel free to skip through them, but the checks are getting bigger and that helps me pay for the podcast. Right. And then there are other techniques that anybody can use, but it's something that has really enriched my life, the connections I've made. I would not have, I've been able to speak on national, global stages. It's definitely helped me get more teaching opportunities. Now I have the podcast curriculum launching, and my vision is having an entire program. We have a minor for undergrads. We don't have. Anything beyond that, and I wanna expand that because this is the best medium to get thought leadership. Talk about your business, share ideas with people, just let people get to know you on, hopefully on a little bit more personal level.

Stoy:

Yeah. It brings a realism, right? I, I think. I know that the difference between social media nowadays is it used to be like, just post about your story and be authentic. It's gone to like, where you really don't know if that's how that person lives their life, or not as much anymore, but like these do. Yeah, like there's no, there's really, it's really tough to hide who you are in a podcast. Length of time, video, you name it. If you have a good host, that is, they bring out the best in you. And that's just, that's amazing. So we can definitely dive more on that. But as we we get to this end, I always have two questions. Okay. We can go anywhere which way we want with them, but I always ask these because usually I get like the first one I ask that everyone's like, I don't think anyone's ever asked me that before. So I take pride in that. I'm prideful of that. So first question, what is your first money memory? Oh.

Anika Jackson:

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 of babysitting when I was like 10, 11, 12 in the neighborhood. Didn't get paid very much. Also look back and I'm like, I was making full meals for these babies and people were leaving their kids in my hands at 10 years old and like, okay with me using their stove. What was that about? So that's one. The biggest one was I wore a lot of hand-me-downs from my. Sister from my aunt. And so the clothes weren't necessarily every, what everybody else was wearing at school, and I don't think I ever quite got there, but I remember having access finally to my own savings account and being able to take a little bit of money out and go shopping for clothes that I liked, not clothes that were picked out for me, and that was a big aha moment. Another one is my first job outside of babysitting and stuff was working for a carpet cleaning company. In Topeka, Kansas and there was still I The yellow pages. The white pages, right? We would say, okay, you're gonna call all the people with B. Last name. Just go down cold call. And if you got a sale, there was a dartboard and you threw a dart, and wherever it landed was what your bonus was.

Stoy:

Nice.

Anika Jackson:

Which is insane to think about. It

Stoy:

is,

Anika Jackson:

but those are me really thinking from a young age. I was also that kid, I want stuff, I'm gonna go door to door selling stuff. And sometimes people just thought that meant I was poor and would gimme a quarter, invite me in for cookies, right? Instead of like, no, I want you to buy something so I can have bigger goals. But I think I've always been that person. I've always had a hustle mentality. I've always wanted to work for what I get. I don't wanna take shortcuts. I wanna be authentic to who I am and that journey, and that's something that I still do for good or for bad these days.

Stoy:

Well, there's my follow up to that was like, think of those and then how, how has that molded you today and what you're doing today? But hey, you, you still do them. And I think everyone has that money, memory and understanding of like there's good and bad to every memory, right? And it's just how you utilize those and how you shift those. But if you don't recognize what they are, then that's usually when they're a little more trauma filled and they cause issues when you're an adult. So it's, it's immediate and it's amazing to recognize that you have multiple that have molded you. And you, you still abide by some of those today.

Anika Jackson:

Some of them. I, I, yeah. Sorry, go ahead. No, you're

Stoy:

good. Um, last question. Our whole focus on No BS wealth, which you have learned and have been a part of, is we wanna make sure that our listeners understand they're not alone, right? We all have a lot of shit going on in our lives, but you're not the only person. And if you feel alone, that's usually when depression and spiraling happens. Yeah. However, there are resources out there for you and there's ideas out there for you. What is one idea, action step or whatever that they can take right now from this last part of the episode and can instill and implement now that will help them on that first step in their journey?

Anika Jackson:

Yeah. Well, my no BS answer is I've been in that place where I had an almost perfect credit score and can do anything I. Not in that place right now. I've had to really struggle over the last few years, even though outwardly it looks like I have all these great things going on, because I do have amazing things going on. That doesn't mean that my bank account matches it yet, but I've seen the highs, I've seen the lows. I've seen how I can get the money. I've understood what I can do better. My piece of advice would be you do have to think about yourself first. So I could completely use every dime that comes in to pay for I. My business expenses, my school expenses, you know, my daughter stuff, whatever it is that's not related to me, but I always make sure to take a little bit of money for. To, uh, give myself a little prize, right? Even if it's something like this is gonna help my desk set up, this is gonna help my house feel a little bit better. Um, I also make sure that I put a little bit of money aside so that I can also reward myself while I'm also paying for all these other things. I also, you know, a lot of people say, get outta debt before you start putting money in investment accounts. I've decided to throw that out the window. You know, I'm, I have. Because I'm a W2 at a couple of things, even though it really get to mold what I do there, I have a PB account where they match double what I put in. I have a 401k where they don't match anything, but at least I'm putting some money away and I'm not doing full amounts. I'm putting at least something because I know that that's money I'm not gonna touch. That's gonna be there for my security. And yeah, am I expecting to be making a ton of money? This year with all the different things I'm putting into place percent, but I still wanna have that security. I still put a little aside to give to people that I need to give to, right? Like I have a nonprofit that works in Ghana. There's so much need in other countries. So I make sure I can send a little money, even if it's not what I used to send. So I really think it's important to think about yourself and not just. Live from that starvation mentality, right? That scarcity mentality. But live in abundance. Make sure that you're holding true to your values. Make sure you're setting aside a little bit for you, um, so that you can have some peace and joy still while you're rebuilding if that's where you are.

Stoy:

I love it. Couldn't say it better myself. And we'll end it with, Hey everybody, like, share, comment, subscribe, not for the algorithm. Really don't care about that. But it allows us to reach more people. It allows us to reach you more often because what we're here for, we are a team. Now, whether she believes it or not, I, I

Anika Jackson:

believe it.

Stoy:

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 direct question about yourself, we're, we're here to help and we have the resources to help. So I appreciate you coming on, I appreciate you saying your story and talking through all of that.'cause that is deep and it is real and that's what we're all about on OBS wealth. So I appreciate you.

Anika Jackson:

Thank you. I appreciate the invitation and the conversation.

Stoy:

All righty. Ooh.

People on this episode

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Stoy Hall

Host
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Anika Jackson

Guest

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