Coffee Talk With The Cajun Mamas
Hey friends! It's Koa and Sarah, the Cajun Mamas! Grab a cup of coffee and press play on our podcast! You may be familiar with our social media content, but now, we can have longer conversations. We are going to dive in to topics like life experiences, what it's like to be a mom these days, inspiration, encouragement and more. Thanks for subscribing!
Coffee Talk With The Cajun Mamas
Coffee Talk With The Cajun Mamas: Financial Literacy Among Our Youth
Today we talk with Skyla Louviere about raising financial literacy in today's youth.
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Sara
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Koa
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All right, welcome to Coffee Talk with the Cajun Mamas. Today we have a very interesting guest. Her name is Skyla Louviere Hi, and she is going to discuss with us just being financial literacy within this new generation coming up. But first we're going to talk about Our grand sponsor. Our grand sponsor.
Speaker 2:Thibodeaux's Paint and Finishing. So Thibodeaux's paint and finishing, so tibideaux's paint finishing. They service the church point and surrounding areas. They offer interior and exterior painting and staining, sheetrock finishing in both smooth or textures. They do patching jobs for ceilings and walls. They can repair cracks or water damage if you got that from you know leaky pipes or whatnot. He also offers small projects sheetrock hanging and minor carpentry work. If you need some work around the house, don't try to paint yourself. I'm just going to say that Maybe you crafty, but I'm not.
Speaker 1:I'm going to call the painter in. I've painted my whole entire house myself and when I'm telling you I will never do it again, I will call Skeet. Yes, you know, especially like a lot of people, they can't find a handyman. You know somebody that can fix something real quick. It's not really a big project. It's hard to get somebody to come out. Y'all call Skeet Thibodeau at 337-308-2713.
Speaker 2:You can find him on Facebook, search Thibodeau's paint and finishing yes, thank you for being a grand sponsor of the podcast this month.
Speaker 1:All right, so we have with us Skyla Luvier. She is how old are you?
Speaker 3:I am 19 years old. I'll be 20 in October.
Speaker 1:She's 19 years old and we could be her mom almost pretty much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we could be her mamas, yeah, well she said her mama was 40.
Speaker 1:I'm like, I mean I'm knocking on 40's door myself, so okay well okay. So the reason she contacted me and was like I don't know what I gotta do, who, how do y'all pick who's gonna be on the podcast? And I'm like we have really no screening process, we just it's people that we find interesting, or you know, and she was definitely interesting.
Speaker 1:I got several long messages from her but they were all so well thought out and like I was, like I got, we got to talk to this girl because she she seems like she's got a good head on her shoulders and it's so good to see that from this fresh generation coming up. So tell us a little bit about your story.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay, so I was 16 years old and a teenager, so life was different.
Speaker 1:Yes, very just, go with the flow, learning everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I got pregnant. I was going to rain high at that time and I was actually a part of student council on the executive board. Well, after I got pregnant, I started my junior year for about a month and I realized for a long time I'm a school person, but I'm more of just I want to get in school, get everything done and go about my day. So there was an option at SLCC. Well, now SOL, now solac or sola cc everyone says it different. You could get your high set, also known as the gd or some places. It's different. Okay, so you're able to go to classes. You on, uh, under six, no, under 18, you're, you know, go to the classes. It's all free until you have to take the GE or HiSET test. That's about $150, which isn't too bad, honestly. It took me about two months to get everything done. I passed with flying colors and they told me that I could apply for college. Well, I was still only no, I just turned 17, I think, or I might have been 16.
Speaker 1:You might have still been 16.
Speaker 3:I know, I was pregnant at the time. Those years were a blur.
Speaker 2:I'm sure.
Speaker 3:Yes, it was so fast. So after that I think it was 23. So spring of 23, I started college. Well, I had my son in March. It was a rough semester, but it wasn't too bad. I honestly enjoyed it. I love the college life. I was in a class with some older people, younger people like it was very so.
Speaker 2:who's watching the baby while you're?
Speaker 3:in class, so mama.
Speaker 2:I have a wonderful mother. She is amazing.
Speaker 3:Thank God for mamas Mom she really took like she wanted me to still succeed. Like I wanted to be a lawyer. Like I wanted to go before I got pregnant, I got this tattoo. I wanted to go to New York and I wanted to become a civil lawyer, because I'm very about everything. Like that.
Speaker 2:That's your jam.
Speaker 3:Yes. So mom still wanted me to do something and I still wanted to do something. So we decided on business. Well then, the second semester rolled around. I passed the first great second semester rolled around. I was like I don't know, maybe I want to try a different route. I like business, but I'm not sure. So I loved school. So mom was like, why don't no teaching? I was like, okay, let's, I switched my whole major. Okay, I started subbing here and there and I decided, well, maybe not teaching, maybe that's not the route. So I was like, okay, let's do general studies till I figured out. Well, in that third semester I decided, let's just just wait it out. So, come that third semester, I passed. Well, the summer rolled around. Life. Life takes turns where whirlwinds. So Liam was going through some things. Um, he had had some surgery, um.
Speaker 1:This is her little boy. Yes, Liam is my little boy.
Speaker 3:He'll be two on March 28th. He is different. He's different. He's a kid that is buck wild, but he likes his space, like, let me tell you. So I was like you know what? How about I just take a mental break? I didn't do any summer classes. I was good with that. Well, come the next semester, which was last semester, I decided you know what, I went to Lafayette, parish, the school board, and I started full-time subbing.
Speaker 1:And I started how is that, Like? I bet you're so busy.
Speaker 3:So I started actually just going to the schools and I would go to a bunch of different schools. Yes, and then I actually started working at Barranco. That's off of Moss and Mud, okay On the north side. I loved it there. Actually, I had a couple teachers who taught me in the past at other schools, oh fun. Yeah, yes it was an ace model school so they brought teachers in from different schools. So I worked there for a little while as a long-term sub, because it was hard to get subs.
Speaker 1:It's there for a little while, uh, as a long-term sub, because they it was hard to get subs.
Speaker 3:It's really hard. Yeah, it's like really hard to get subs. That's what I'm saying. You must have a full-time job.
Speaker 1:Yes it's part.
Speaker 3:It's you get to choose your schedule more or less like you could. You have an app and you can choose everything it's it's. They make it really easy, like it's wonderful, all right yes, and I was like, okay, you know, I did that for a little while and I was like, well, christmas break came around. I was like I want to go back to subbing part-time. Because, Mama, she has carpal tunnel, so with Liam it's a little hard to pick him up.
Speaker 1:He's a heavy boy.
Speaker 3:And he's growing and he likes to deadweight you all the time.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's the age, that's the age.
Speaker 3:So it got a little bit easier once I started part-time again, which is now. So where I am now I'm trying to as an entrepreneur. I guess entrepreneur, that's what I want to be. You don't always know what you want to do, like, exactly like there's no set path because you could go at any branch. You want anything, you want Anything, you want Exactly. So I want to try different things. I try. I've been trying photography out um I've been trying. I want to try this I want to try content create.
Speaker 3:I want to try different things. Um, I'm getting into kind of into limelight I started. I want to try to, I thought you when you asked me that I was like.
Speaker 1:You are the perfect candidate for it because it's so on your own it's flexible marketing.
Speaker 3:Marketing's my thing. I love marketing. That's just everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's so good for you yes, I find you know, just talking to you for that little amount of time, especially if you want to be an entrepreneur, that's a great, a great place to start. Yes, um, I have a lot to say. Yeah, uh, but let's talk about our, um, our, and it is how the Cajun Lady Accent yes, our good friend.
Speaker 2:How so you guys y'all need to go to howthecajunladyaccentcom. If you have not checked out her whole line of seasoning you're missing out. She's got so many different types of seasonings Creole, zydeco, cajun Waltz, a blackening seasoning called Blacken, that Cajun Spicy Two-Step. But my favorite things are like the dry dip mixes and the spaghetti mixes and stuff, and the chili mix, chili mix, the firecrackers.
Speaker 2:I mean you ain't going to be sorry, no matter what you get, but those are just some of our favorites. And then now that, like crawfish season is in full swing, she got that seafood ball butter, she got the seafood ball, the dips, that you can dip your seafood in.
Speaker 1:She got a dip already made for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's already made. Yes, and all her seasonings are low in sodium and MSG free, so you need to go check them out. You can find her by searching how the Cajun Lady Accent on Facebook, snapchat, youtube, tiktok, any in Instagram, any social media. She's on it, so thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Oh she's there baby. Even on that Snapchat. Even on that Snapchat, all right. So I have so much to say about what you just told me, because you know, whenever people tell you, okay, you're going to go to college, that's what they told us. You're going to go to college and it's going to take you four years, just four years. It did not take me just four years to complete college. I did it in four and a half years. How long it took you? Four.
Speaker 2:No four and a half because I started with a.
Speaker 1:I was going to do an associate's degree and some of my credits didn't transfer over so I had to do like a whole nother semester so that. But this time in your life and this was so interesting, uh to me about you it was like you you already kind of know what you kind of want to do. It seems like a lot to me, but I'm I'm already nervous just thinking about all of it. But then we do the same thing.
Speaker 3:We got a thousand arms in the far too. We do a lot yeah.
Speaker 1:But to see somebody so young and figure out that you know what, it's all right that this didn't work out, you know, and it's okay, like because this time in your life is for figuring things out, yep, and we always say it's the hardest time In the 20s to 30s is the hardest time because you're expected to do so much with your life in such a short amount of time. So I left them bananas right there. They real, they real bananas.
Speaker 2:I was like this is our snack for after a while it is. Look, put it right.
Speaker 1:There, I'm going to put one on each side. Put my brown bananas right there. Don't mess with my arrangement.
Speaker 2:Sorry.
Speaker 1:I thought for sure you forgot that there. Sorry, I thought for sure you forgot that there. Nope, put it right there for a reason, so I wouldn't forget to eat it. And because they brown bananas, sorry, all right, um, but I like that that, you, you. A lot of times people are like down because they're like oh, that didn't work out.
Speaker 2:When life throws you a, huge curveball like, yeah, unexpected pregnancy, that's right you're not letting that stand in your way of building a future for yourself and your little boy, and I want to know, subbing in all these schools, what is something that you are seeing that these kids are not getting that they need?
Speaker 3:Financial literacy.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:I find that for me like actually one of your sponsors tips want. As I was listening to that, the first thing that comes to my brain is well, life is expensive, homes are expensive. Not everyone gets the luxury of inheritance, not every person gets the luxury of having parents who explain a lot of things. So, having the parents I did every. They were very open financially my dad's in the oil field, so that was very unpredictable sometimes. So my parents explained everything to us. Like I knew what a credit score was cool. I think I was like 10 um and I'm, I'm helping mom with the bills. I made her her spreadsheet like it's expensive life, very expensive. But a lot of students today like when I talk to them about everything yes, they offer financial classes or business classes in high school and even eighth grade, but they are not mandatory. But what is mandatory in life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, what.
Speaker 3:Money, you have to live life. What do you have to have Money. No matter where you want to go with your life, you have to live life. What do you have to have money no matter where you want to go with your life, you have to have money. You want to buy a car, you have to have a credit score, or at least someone with one right you have to have all these things.
Speaker 3:So you can't just say, today I'm gonna go buy a car. And I think what happens is a lot of students who decide once they graduate high school because they are not of that knowledge or they I research a lot Like if y'all tell me something, I'm going to go make sure to understand it completely before I talk to you about it. I'm not just going to say it like because, oh, I want to.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm going to do. She's a green personality. She's a green yeah.
Speaker 3:And so my experience with the students is I notice they don't do that. They don't realize what they're talking about.
Speaker 2:But when we have our news is our facebook feed. Nothing is verified.
Speaker 3:This is the generation that's coming up, so yeah, I get what you're saying to have these kids are these young adults need to have this knowledge to build their future. If we give them, or even if y'all give me or people my age are younger than me, I'm 19 years old, y'all give me people my age are younger than me, I'm 19 years old. Okay, I have a long life to live. Yeah, absolutely. Some students are. They don't understand that, like you have to realize, don't waste it, but enjoy it at the same time, you have to make it your own. You have to make it your own.
Speaker 2:But having those skills. You have to have these skills, the knowledge of it, when you're that age going into the future, when you're just starting out to build a credit score or whatever how imperative, like how great Big props to her parents for bringing her up with all this. Like, hey, this is it, the importance of it, that's so important.
Speaker 1:Like I always, the things that I remember most from high school is probably home ec. You know, I learned how to cook some of the basics of cooking in home ec sewing like just the basic stuff you know like, or she did talk about finances, some with us, and free enterprise and stuff like that. But you know like, I feel like they have this business class but not everybody's taking it, because they're not realizing how important all this is going to be to them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know. So I find that to be so interesting and, like I said, big ups to your parents for really giving you the opportunity to learn that at such a young age. That is a teachable moment. That is a teachable moment. It's always a teachable moment.
Speaker 3:Mama always told me, pay ahead if you can. If you have the extra money pay ahead, because you never know what that next check will look like.
Speaker 1:It's so true.
Speaker 3:Especially in trades or the oil field.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't know.
Speaker 3:So if you pay even our car notes, you know how you're given those. I think it's I don't know if it's 90 days or 45 days to pay that first note. Mama always paid that first note before that date, so she'd be technically two months ahead.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's what we like to do, because it makes it easier, cause if something were to happen let's say, dad's out of work for a month when winter, winter things happen every day or their rig goes down or something happens you have to. You don't want to have to just leave. You have everything still there. You don't want to get everything repossessed, you don't want those things to happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you have to prevent. It's so important you have to prevent. I just love talking about this with her.
Speaker 2:So much wisdom coming out of that young young person right there. It's wonderful. Okay, let's take a second and mention uh 87 washes mobile detailing so this is a precious family-owned business. Um, they started jorge and his wife ashley. They met on a mission trip, y'all they just they are so precious, but anyway, they have a mobile detailing service for your vehicles. They can come out to you and just from top to bottom go through your car vehicle and make it spotless. Sarah knows this firsthand she had.
Speaker 1:I had him come out. He detailed my vehicle. Yes, it's time for him to come back.
Speaker 2:As a matter of fact, yeah, springtime sun is shining, it's time, and now they're offering gift cards on their website.
Speaker 3:Oh, yes, girl Go to 87washes.
Speaker 2:No, I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 87washesmobildetailingcom. And what a perfect Mother's Day gift card.
Speaker 1:That's what I was just thinking. What a perfect Mother's Day gift card. That's what I was just thinking. What a perfect Mother's Day gift card. Go get your wife a Mother's Day gift card and get all that cereal out the car.
Speaker 2:All the goldfish crackers, vacuum that up.
Speaker 3:Well, right now we're not able to give him the horror stuff because he had trouble swallowing at the beginning.
Speaker 1:But we're getting into the, the toys, the toys and everywhere so y'all go ahead and find them on facebook, instagram, google, you can even search 87 washes 87 washes mobile detailingcom.
Speaker 2:go get that gift card and use code cajun mamas all one word to get 10% off your gift card I tell you what? Yes, friend, we're moving on up for 87 washes yeah, that's all the pollen on my car. Oh no, that's what I'm gonna have to wait for that pollen to move on because that's never gonna happen.
Speaker 3:But all right um all right.
Speaker 2:So I mean so what you think would be the first steps for a young person to take, like, let's say they're like well, my school don't offer that. You know where can I get knowledge to take my finances into my own hands? Like what would you say if somebody had asked you that Like what to do? First, research, just do your own research.
Speaker 3:Everything I learned, including, you know, my mom, everything she's taught me. But I would also go on my own and research, or I would ask anybody really.
Speaker 2:I would find someone you admire, sort of how much are?
Speaker 3:you paying for this, or couldn't there be a different way to do this or go about this? There's different ways to go about everything. There's always a different way. I think a lot. My goal, like I'm going to school for business, my goal for my last final business before I go is to have a free, not you know how they have the boys and girls club a non-profit free mental, either mental health or something for young adults, our teens or anyone to go if they need tutoring in anything.
Speaker 1:Because in high schools now like I took.
Speaker 3:Well, they call it. I think it's food and services. Now I have a certification for that. But in high school you know how you have home ec. Well, at every school they offer it in different ways. Now I didn't do the baby thing, I didn't do the sewing.
Speaker 3:I just learned how to cook, but you also have to learn different things. It's not just cooking anymore, so it's a lot more textbook knowledge now. So, like I said, do your research, ask around, ask people, your age. I like my dinosaur earrings because I'm a dinosaur. I always joke with my mom. I'm a little bit more mentally up in age, so I like to communicate with the older generation because I feel like I can learn a lot more. But as the times are changing so much, it's a lot different than when y'all were growing up, when y'all were 19, I'm sure milk did not cost what it costs now?
Speaker 1:No, it don't, no, exactly, it did not. No, it didn't, no, it didn't.
Speaker 3:I thought gas was hot, it didn't, it really didn't. So I mean you have to talk to every generation. You have to Even the middle schoolers. The middle schoolers are getting to that they have like snack shops. How about start if you give your kids an allowance? Even the parents can be a part of this with their kids. Give your kids an allowance, have a shop in your house I've seen parents do this where they do like a little sign to where they get a certain even my not, it's not real money monopoly dollars and they have to just to teach the concept of things cost and budget.
Speaker 2:Budget save it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because even with credit scores like with your because when I turned 18 I'm very honest and open my credit score was 756 I piggybacked off my parents.
Speaker 1:Not everybody gets that opportunity yeah.
Speaker 3:But the best thing you could do is research and ask how do I start this? They have plenty of people, plenty of businesses, plenty of it's everywhere. We have Google. It is open to everyone. Now watch what you search up, right, you have to make sure it's certified. In school you learn how to know what is credible.
Speaker 1:Accreditable yeah.
Speaker 3:You learn that If you can learn what's credible, you'll be fine. Go on TikTok, go on podcasts. That's what I do, a lot of things in our home. We research it. There's probably so many. Oh my gosh, we've learned to fix so many things on YouTube.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 3:YouTube University Taking care, even taking care of your children. It's so like if I had a question. Yes, I have my mom, but not everybody has that. Look it up. If your kid's doing something different that you don't, what is going on? Look it up. If there's a certain kind of medicine that you're like man, I'm nervous to give this to him because I am a medicine. I'm very medicine. If he's sick, I have to give him some medicine. But I like to research before because there are certain things, especially with the kids, these generations, what they consume, you have to watch for that, oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Especially with the prices too, you actually could get something cheaper. That is pretty much the same thing. So price check Me and my mom price check everything, Price check.
Speaker 2:Baby Girl, if you saw my living room.
Speaker 3:Everything we have came from Ross's came from Dee Dee's came from Burlington TJ Maxx. When you're young I understand everybody likes the name brand stuff. But actually, girl, this shirt came from before they Big Lots. I love this shirt. Like I love it. I got some Jordans from Ross Girl bargainet. Girl. Bargain Shopper. Bargain Shopper.
Speaker 1:We like to bargain shop. We some thrift.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's my sale shopper videos. Y'all we love to thrift now.
Speaker 1:Goodwill, they getting a little hot?
Speaker 3:Oh yes, they are.
Speaker 2:I've noticed that they getting a little hot with Goodwill, they getting a little extra.
Speaker 1:All right, and y'all already know we like we some thrifty people, um, but let's talk about how the cajun lady accent one more time and uh, we, we're gonna wrap this episode up. So how the cajun lady accent is one of our, one of our dear friends. We said that already she's got a great line of seasoning that we actually use in our house. Yeah, my favorite is the cajun walls, uh, and the mexican fiesta oh, we could fiesta, we could taco.
Speaker 1:So much that Mexican Fiesta is, we have to have that on tap at all times at our house.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I ran out of seasoning one time and in a pinch, the Mexican Fiesta dry dip mix. Heck, yeah, mix that up into meat.
Speaker 1:Works as a seasoning too, baby, Well my daughter loves the let's see Mexican Fiesta dry dip. Dry dip, yeah, yeah she likes to make dip all the time. With that matter of fact, she had her a dip. I called it a dip charcuterie. She with that dip she had brought one time and you brought it to the house. She had, uh, she had gotten all kind of little chips and crackers and put it all and she was just having herself oh absolutely so, but you can use the uh, the mexican fiesta Cracker Mix for the dip too.
Speaker 1:It's very versatile. Yeah, fry up some chicken with some of that stuff. Yeah, I haven't tried it, but I should.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know I'm so hungry right now too, talking about this, it's seafood season, y'all.
Speaker 1:She's got liquid seafood balls, seafood balls seasoning the dip already done, liquid butter, her Cajun fry batter. She also has hats and t-shirts available on her website. If you like, that merch how the Cajun lady accent On Facebook, snapchat, youtube, tiktok, instagram, and if there's any other social media platforms, I'm sure you're going to find her on there, all right? Yeah, well, thank you so much for coming, and is there anything else that you wanted to kind of share what?
Speaker 2:are your plans? Like you, you're in school, still for business, and then what you do? You have a goal as to like what you want to do when you're done so after I graduate, I want to open my first business.
Speaker 3:Everything I will open will probably be either family owned or just close friends, because I want everything to be family oriented. Everything in my life has always been in my cry. Everything has been about my family. My family is a big part of everything I have done. They have got me through everything Like they have.
Speaker 1:It's just my back and you have so much more to go you know, this is just the beginning. For you, this is just the beginning for you and that's why you interested me so much. When you came to me about the podcast. I'm like this is such a good fresh. It's for us to see the younger generation excited about stuff like this yeah, you know, yeah, you're going to go far.
Speaker 2:It gives us hope, yeah. And yeah, you know, yeah, you're going to go far. It gives us hope, yeah. And if anybody wants to connect with you, you want to share any socials or anything like that. Are you ready for that yet?
Speaker 3:I'm trying to get out. I want to get out there. I mean they can follow me on TikTok. If you just look up Skyla Louvier, you'll see my face.
Speaker 1:And it's Skyla S-K-Y-L-A.
Speaker 3:No R, no R. My entire life. Everybody spelled it with an R Skyla.
Speaker 1:No, it's Skyla, but you know, not everybody's from here either, so you better go ahead and spell, louvier too, L-O-U-V, as in Victor. I-e-r-e. Very good. Well, thank you so much for coming today. It's been such a pleasure talking to you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1:Thank you for contacting us and reaching out, because this is great. Yes, yeah, all right, we're going to mention, we're going to close out this episode by mentioning our friend Skeet Thibodeau. With Thibodeau's paint and finishing, he does interior and exterior painting and staining sheetrock. Finishing big projects, small projects. Skeet does it all.
Speaker 2:Candyman things. I'll tell you what. Um, he can do some minor carpentry work and if you got some, some stains on your ceiling from water damage stuff like that, he can fix that right up for you. Give him a call at 337-308-2713. You can find him on facebook search tibidows, paint and finishing.
Speaker 1:Thanks, skeet for being our grand sponsor. Yes, all right. And thank you for listening to coffee talk with the cajun mamas. We'll see you next week.