The Toya Talks Podcast
The education system teaches us to learn and recall information and at the end of it we are tested and expected to then pass exams. After all said and done the reality is, we are supposed to get a job at the end of it. I was unaware of the difficulties I would encounter at work especially as a Black Woman. How do I navigate work and how do I keep a job? Education institutions do not prepare you for work, racism, bullying, and oppressive managers in the workplace. Where the education system has not prepared you, I will. Toya Talks is a platform birthed on my day to day uploads on Snapchat. I discuss the realities of work from the perspective of a Black Woman and how I have successfully navigated work using my experiences. Toya Talks Podcast covers the world of work and not just the corporate world. Black Women for too long have been overlooked and underrepresented in the workplace. Toya Talks is a safe place and a platform to share, grow and learn, more importantly, educate ourselves and everyone else so we can navigate and grow in the world of work more smoothly. This Podcast contains my opinions and feelings based on my lived experiences, my opinions and my Black experience. My views and experiences are in no way intended to cause offence. Lets put the sensitivity to one side, prepare to laugh, learn & grow!!!!
The Toya Talks Podcast
Financial Police State: How Technology Is Reshaping Our Economic Reality
The technological revolution isn't coming—it's already here, dismantling traditional business models and reshaping our economic landscape before our eyes. McKinsey's recent firing of 10% of its workforce, openly blaming AI disruption, signals a profound shift that extends far beyond consultancies.
This episode dives deep into how artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering employment prospects across all sectors. Bill Gates predicts 80% of job losses within a decade, making it essential to understand how these changes will affect your career trajectory—regardless of your industry or position. We explore practical ways to position yourself ahead of this technological wave rather than being swept away by it.
The racial dimension of technological change cannot be ignored, as evidenced by Google's $50 million settlement for bias claims and a shocking LinkedIn experiment where a Black woman changed her profile picture to that of a white woman named "Emily"—immediately receiving interview opportunities previously denied to her. These revelations expose the systemic biases being encoded into the very algorithms meant to streamline hiring processes.
For working parents, particularly mothers, the post-pandemic push to return to office-based work adds yet another layer of complexity in an already challenging economic environment. The dismantling of flexible working arrangements disproportionately impacts women who often serve as primary caregivers, forcing many skilled professionals out of the workforce entirely.
From HMRC's plans to tax interest on savings accounts to the European pharmacy advantages discovered during a Paris trip, this episode offers practical insights for navigating financial challenges in what increasingly feels like a financial police state. The conversation wraps with a comprehensive update on the Diddy trial, examining the testimony and implications of this high-profile case.
Understand the forces reshaping our economic reality and equip yourself with the knowledge to thrive rather than merely survive in this rapidly evolving landscape.
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Music (Intro and Outro) Written and created by Nomadic Star
Is this the end of the consultancy business model as we know it? Mckinsey has reportedly fired 10% of its workforce in the last 18 months, blaming AI as a disruptor to the consultancy business model. We've seen big tech with a lot of firing, and also now the pursuit of middle managers as they get rid of middle managers in big tech. Google has reportedly settled its racial bias lawsuit that was brought in March 2022. And Workday, the HR software, has been faced with a class action lawsuit based on AI algorithms of recruiting biases. Klana, the Buy Now, pay Later platform, has run into a bit of trouble trouble and it has been reported in the UK that HMRC are planning further raids of financial raids, further tax raids on our savings account.
Speaker 1:We also talk about the Diddy trial. This is the third week into the Diddy trial. Haven't covered it here. On the Toy Talks podcast, we will be getting into it and so much more. My name is Toya Washington and you are locked into the Toya Talks podcast you how to navigate and elevate. That's what we do. Black queen energy growing she's back.
Speaker 1:She's a fairy. She was a fairy. She is a fairy with a toddler. Who's got an attitude? Who has a tantrumrum? Who keeps me up at night? Who's really tired? I'm really tired. I'm a working mom, a career mom. I'm a boss. Babe, I'm a fairy. I'm a fairy.
Speaker 1:Hi everyone, how are you all doing? Welcome to Toy Talks podcast. If you're new here, lock in, sit, sit tight and then you've got homework, because we have previous episodes that you just need to get acquainted to, because when you're new here, you come with all your questions and the answers are all in the previous podcast. Believe me, like, and also I'm going to caveat that by also saying to my new listeners I'm dyslexic, undiagnosed adhd. We rolling, we driving, we going. You see me when you see me, but when you see me, you're gonna learn something, you're gonna laugh, you're gonna have fun and all that. Okay, anyway, how are you doing? I hope you're all doing well.
Speaker 1:What can I tell y'all? First of all, before we get into the meat, potatoes and the bread, and and and and the butter of it, all right, I need to put you guys on game, because those of you who are not on my Instagram are lacking, lacking. You're lacking on a bicycle, because that's where I. I am on there quite regularly and I like the fact that the stories are 24 hours and I feel like, if you know anything about me, that's my jam. Okay, 24 hours, 24 hours, say how I feel Won't disappear. I like that and my page is private. So, all those people that are trying to add me and you've got burner accounts no pictures, no, nothing. I'm not accepting your follow because ain't no one trying to be trolled by a burner account? Okay, we, peaceful over here on Instagram. I'm just letting y'all know.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I recently went to Paris, right, and I need to put y'all on because all of us, some of us, because I have international listeners and they have asked me to acknowledge them. I acknowledge y'all because, let's really be honest, we're a collective, whether we are in the States, we are in Australia, south Africa. Really, be honest, we're a collective. Whether we are in the states, we are in australia, south africa, nigeria, kenya, zimbabwe, tanzania, south america, uk, we all locked in here. Okay, we, we go together. Real bad anyway. So I went to paris recently. The cost of living crisis in the uk is mad.
Speaker 1:I'm talking anything from egg and bread to flipping skincare, and I am a skincare queen. I love skincare. It makes me happy, my skincare routine brings me joy. So I went to Paris purely on the skincare thing, and then there was a couple of other things I wanted to do out there as well. I've been to Paris before, but this was about going to the Paris pharmacies.
Speaker 1:Now, whatever you understand a pharmacy to be in the UK is not what it is in Europe. Pharmacies are big boy places Like I'm talking, like I don't know, because some people have said it's a cross between Sephora and Boots, and I think that you're downplaying the greatness of what a pharmacy is in Europe. I've been to a couple of pharmacies in Belgium. Um, I'll be going to a Belgian pharmacy in July, so you know I'll be doing like, what do you call it? Not an unboxing? What do y'all want me to do? Like, is it an unboxing? You guys love it on on on instagram when I talk about all the stuff I've bought. But, um, I digress.
Speaker 1:Um, paris has some of the best pharmacies and anything from skincare. You name it products that we don't get in the uk, because I think something that we lack in the uk is variety and options. Vitamins, for example, the cornerstone of vitamins in the UK is Hollins and Barrett's and I'm sorry, but half of them vitamins in Hollins and Barrett's give me constipation. When I was pregnant and I had to take all my vitamins. Literally I spent 12 weeks being sick anyway, but part of that sickness was the vitamins that I was having from Hollins and Barrett's was just a load of crap. Uh, so for me to go to Paris is such a blessing. I always think travel, any type of mobility, is just such a blessing. Two hours on the Eurostar. My train is at one minute past 6am in the morning.
Speaker 1:I got to Paris at about half nine and, um, yeah, I just kind of went to the pharmacy. There was a couple of pharmacies I actually went to. I'd planned which ones I was going to go to and it was amazing. The skincare is just fantastic and they have staff on their hand to help you, advise you with products. You tell them what your skin concerns are or you tell them what you're interested in and they can put you in the right direction and the prices. So whatever price you get in that, you'll look fantastic and that cult beauty, it is a cult. It is definitely a cult beauty because they have us. They had us in a chokehold for a really long time, but I'm really sorry, I'm just not willing to pay those prices anymore. So in Paris it's half price, literally 40 to 50 percent off, plus you get the 12 percent tax back and in the pharmacies the one that I went to they do the tax back there and then. So I think on one of my shops I've got 45 pounds cash back and I'd spent roughly about 345 pounds and I've got so many different products.
Speaker 1:I have a couple of skin concerns, um, so I was able kind of to speak to someone there and I was introduced to products I've never even seen before. I get all my daughter's products from um Europe. I never buy well, I say never, but um, since she has been born, I haven't bought anything here. Um, before she was born I was buying stuff as you would do as a new mum, but the reality is those products weren't great. Mestella is probably one of the better brands, but again, we don't get a wide range of Mestella here in the UK. So actually going over to Paris was brilliant. Actually going over to Paris was brilliant. I just saw ranges and ranges of products from Mestella to Aderma Nooks have a massive, massive range of products that hasn't even touched the surface here in the UK and again you get the tax back. So I was just really grateful to be able to just go out there, be introduced to new products, really upgrade my skincare.
Speaker 1:I'd made sure that I was running out of stuff by the time I was due to go to Paris and I'm going to be going to Paris every quarter, every quarter, every six months. I'll definitely be there. I got a load of vitamins. Those of us who are perimenopause girl I'm checking in on y'all, how y'all doing, because sis is struggling over here Again. When I went over to Paris, one of the things I had on my list is vitamins for perimenopause and I did get those vitamins. I'm so grateful and so happy to have got those products because in the UK they just don't do things for perimenopause and I just question what is in these products, how they're made, you know, know what they're made of. Why am I feeling sick on a full stomach and having these vitamins? And also, I don't think we have a vast enough range of vitamins to suit different requirements that people will have. So I'm here to recommend a european pharmacy.
Speaker 1:My experience has been paris, I would give it a solid nine out of ten. I think that you just need to plan what you want to do, what time you want to go, how long you want to spend there, like really have it in your mind, like an outline of kind of what you want to achieve. I go to Belgium regularly, um, because Kay was brought up in Belgium. So we do go quite regularly and the, the Belgium pharmacies are just as good as the paris ones. I just think paris may be slightly better. But maybe because I've been to paris, I'll look at belgium in a different way now because I kind of know what I'm looking for. But I'll be interested to see what perimenopausal um vitamins they do in belgium in comparison to what I've got from paris. So I'm starting to take them. So hopefully, you know, I can reduce some of the things I'm feeling from a perimenopause perspective.
Speaker 1:But yeah, no, it was great, I enjoyed it and I definitely said to myself when I come on the podcast I've got to tell you guys, get yourself to the Paris pharmacies, just tick, tock, google it. They have so many different pharmacies. There's one really famous one that's really quite narrow and it's on three floors, but I feel like to get the full skincare experience, you need to go to more than one pharmacy. But that's my plug. Um, I don't even know what to start with darling, because there's just so much to get get into.
Speaker 1:But I do want to provide an update because I did um speak about the google um and I spoke about the class action that was happening based on racial bias and that actually Google allegedly were willing to settle, but they had said that black employees were not part of that settlement because their experience was different to what was being alleged in the class action suit. That has now been thrown out the window. The settlement does include black employees who were affected by racial bias, um biases, um within google, and I believe it's. I don't know if the settlement is without prejudice, I'm not too sure, but they have settled 50 million dollars, which is unbelievable, but the press are not really talking about as much. And why would they? You know, when we talk about racial bias, it affects minority ethnic groups and I genuinely believe that the UK media will only report on things that position us as ethnic minorities in a very dubious, untrusting way. But when you have big corporations like Google doing settlements like this.
Speaker 1:I think questions need to be asked about what racial biases mean and how do they exist in the current society we live in, how it affects us and actually what's been what's happening. I think having this class action lawsuit has highlighted not only racial biases but what these companies are aware that they are doing and therefore willing to settle out of court because they know that if they were to go to court, it would fully expose a lot of the prejudicial practices that are happening within these big organizations. So I think it's always important to talk about it, and I've always said I will talk about things that I feel like are pertinent to the ethos and the theme of this podcast. But also whatever is usually happening in the states usually happens over here, and I definitely want to bring a lot more us-based stuff here as examples of things that not only we're experiencing, of things, how things can evolve. I mean, a classic example is, you know, donald trump being re-elected as the president of the united states, and everybody's looking at that through a particular lens, and in my head I was thinking, okay, well, how is it going to affect us in the UK? So the trade deal that the UK has recently struck with the US is not necessarily surprising. Let's see how it benefits us in the economy, which means it probably won't benefit us but also the by-elections that I mentioned in the last episode, where the Labour Party lost a lot of seats to Reform UK, where the Labour Party lost a lot of seats to Reform UK. Reform UK adopts a lot of ideologies that Trump has, because Nigel Farage idolises Donald Trump. So if care is not taken, reform UK will run this country and a lot of what you're seeing in the US will be mimicked here. And it's important that we pay attention and that's something that I'm actually going to say a lot pay attention, because what you see on the surface isn't always what the truth is.
Speaker 1:I think it's important for us to actually recognize a lot of the signs that are happening outside of the UK as a kind of a glimpse of what could happen here in the UK. And it's a really frustrating time here in the UK because really there's maybe two major political parties here in the UK and power shifts between the both, but they should merge as a party. I think Labour and Conservative should merge because their ideologies are very similar, if not the same, but we need, like a working class party. We need a party that represents the middle class, the working class, because, um, what I'm seeing in society at the moment is the erasure of the working class and just a two-tier system of rich and poor. And whether we want to, you know, admit it or not, there is a, there is a class system here in the uk it's the rich, it's the middle class and it's the poor. The working class are, you know, teetering or actually quite comfortably sit sometimes in middle class, you know, depending on the pay scale, because we need to have that discussion. But, yeah, it's important that I bring that up because I don't think people realize how dangerous Reform UK would be to this country, and what you're seeing in America will be mimicked here. So pay attention.
Speaker 1:So I mentioned in the opener about McKinsey Consultancy. Now, there are a lot of people that work in consultancies. I accept that we have all walks of life, careers, jobs that listen to this podcast, but the reason I talk about McKinsey is not just for the people who are in the consultancy space. It's about how AI is being used in decision making and how AI will affect you. Now it's really important that I say this because I don't think I've ever said this before you need to be in front of AI. You need to understand how AI works. You need to know how artificial intelligence is used. It's not just about putting stuff into chat GBT and hoping for the best. You need to understand how it affects your job, your work, your career, your existence, because AI, according to Bill Gates, will remove at least 80% of jobs in the next 10 years. Now, if Bill Gates is to be believed, who is the ex-CEO of Microsoft, I think what it highlights is how important AI is becoming in life and you need to understand it. It doesn't matter which sector you work in, and I keep saying this and I say this all the time. I continue to say it. This podcast is not just for people who work in the corporate world. It's the working world and AI affects everybody in the working world.
Speaker 1:I feel like people don't know how to use AI and I think people bury their heads, especially in this country. Keir Starmer is reportedly saying that he wants to make the UK the tech hub of artificial intelligence and that's never going to happen and we will be lagging behind. You know the likes of America and China, for sure, but the reality is, I think people don't know how to use AI or people are using AI. I know a business that's using AI to avoid hiring a lawyer or somebody who understands contracts and consultants because they think AI can answer the questions. They think they can plug things into chat GPT, but that's just not how it works. You need to know what you're putting in there. You need to know that whatever AI spitting out is accurate, and also just understanding what AI is being groomed to do. What is it being groomed to do?
Speaker 1:We have seen an advancement in technology in our everyday lives. You only have to go into your local Sainsbury's, tesco's, asda, waitrose to see that you don't typically see a cashier at the till anymore. What you do see are these tills that you can use, that don't need to be manned. That's how we're advancing in technology now. Or where you can just scan your receipt. There's a barcode at the end and it allows you then to leave your supermarket. That's the advancements of technology that we're talking about people's ability to go cashless and not even require a bank card to pay for things like a universal card that doubles up as your ID, your money and everything. That's the advancements of tech. That's the direction in which we're going in. So it's really important that you actually understand how technology is advancing, how is affecting you, how it will affect you and your job and your careers and your everyday life.
Speaker 1:So, in as much as McKinsey have reported firing of 10% of its workforce in the last 18 months, they can blame AI as a disruptor. But ultimately, if we understand what AI is to be used for, that whole consultancy business model is looking quite shaky for sure, because a lot of people bring on consultants as subject matter experts on a particular area or to fill in skill sets that are missing for a particular organization, and they charge millions. They charge companies, not thousands, I mean millions. If that project is big enough, they won't get in independent workforce, they'll just go to a consultancy like deloitte, pwc, ey, kpmg, and actually organizations are using ai as a tool to mitigate those high costs. So the question is do consultants, consultancy firms like mckinsey, lower their costs to be able to be seen as more competitive? And the answer is no, because what you're looking for in AI, from a consulting model, is the automation. It's a, it's the ability to not need a physical person but then reduce your workforce to a point where they're solely dependent on AI.
Speaker 1:Um, I think what is really scary is the job market at the moment, and you know I talk periodically about the job market and how I see the job market, and it's really bad at the moment. I think it's across a lot of sectors, multiple sectors, multiple um areas. The job market is really bad. I think one of the reasons it's bad is because of the increase of employer national insurance that they have to pay. So companies are looking for where they can save costs and kind of mitigate the increase in the NI that they have to pay, and I think it's pushing organisations to squeeze its current workforce. It's pushing organizations to squeeze its current workforce and, despite the fact that we're in a new financial year, I think organizations are looking at how they can maximize profits without having to spend too much money. Is the truth, and if we know anything, you know that the workforce um bums on seats as, as it's often been referred to, costs more than anything else. I think it accounts for more than 50% of the spend is the workforce. So you can then understand why AI is looking quite attractive in replacing certain jobs and replacing workforces, because you're saving millions of pounds every year the more advanced AI becomes and the less you're dependent on human beings.
Speaker 1:Um workday now I had this conversation with my husband about workday and I've always workday has always troubled me. So if you don't know what workday is, it's a HR software. So some organizations, when they've um, they've advertised jobs and you click it takes you to this platform and you put in all your details. Sometimes you can upload your CV and it kind of automates what you put on your CV and fills in the sections for you. But effectively it's how you apply for a job at organisations. So, for example, if you're, if you've seen a job, maybe on LinkedIn, and you click on that particular job. If you're, if you've seen a job, maybe on LinkedIn, and you click on that particular job, sometimes it will take you to the organisation's internet page intranet sorry. You can apply for the job there or you can apply by attaching your CV through a LinkedIn site or it will take you to a independent third party platform called Workday Workday. Also, when I worked in a particular organisation, they use workday to um, do like annual leave and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But for the purposes of this class action lawsuit it's more about when you're applying for roles. Organizations basically subscribe, paid for this third party platform. So the class action is actually being brought against how the algorithm has been programmed by AI and there are recruitment biases. Now the plaintiffs in this class action are all over the age of 40 years old, as spokesmen recently confirmed and I think, as information is being released about this class action lawsuit, the reason I'm raising it is because it's been brought in America. Whenever kind of these big, massive lawsuits come out, it's usually in America again. This is why I say to you all it's really important that we know what's happening, because it does affect us. This workday bias, this workday HR software platform, affects us because when you are applying for a job here in the UK, that same US-based platform, that software workday um. So I'll be interested to see what happens here in the UK, which is usually nothing, let's be honest.
Speaker 1:The movers and the shakers of such class actions usually come from the US. I've got to be honest, but my brain always thinks well, this is a platform potentially I could use or I have used in applying for roles. How does this class action suit affect me? What they're alleging and the result of um and I've used workday I I used recently, actually, and when you apply for a role through Workday, almost immediately, if not a day or two afterwards, it will just spit out if you have been shortlisted or not. And that's weird to me. Because it's weird, because I just don't understand how you shortlist in that way. But if you understand the advancements of AI and technology, then you'll know that it is an artificial intelligence backed algorithm that sits at the back of Workday and if it's been programmed in a certain way and you haven't met a certain criteria, that the you know. What do they call them? I can't remember. Now, oh God, my brain the programmers. Let's call them the programmers of programs. If you don't hit it, then it'll split, spit out you're unsuccessful.
Speaker 1:Now it's a bit weird that the plaintiff plaintiffs are all over the age of 40. So when you're talking about recruitment biases, age has to be one of them. Um, they're also as part of that class action. It's biased in terms of race, age and ability, and you've got like big companies that use um workday. So, for example, netflix, bank of america they all use this platform. So I definitely will be keeping updated with what happens with that class action, the result of it, and I'll be updating you as it progresses, because if you think about how ai is advancing and how organizations are using it, then clearly it will be used in a recruitment process hr. Whenever I've worked in certain places, hr are usually when. When we're looking at kind of slimming down our workforce, they usually butcher hr first, like they usually get rid of them. So a lot of organizations are then replacing hr hr with what ai. So it's very important that we understand what's happening with workday so I'll keep you updated and I it you don't buy it.
Speaker 1:I feel like Klarna is very exploitative and I really hate it when I see big businesses, small businesses, using Klarna and somebody will be screaming, well, you've got to make money somehow. But the reality is there are some people that are not in a financial position to afford certain things right, and some people do not have a developed understanding of financial literacy and understanding. I, for a very long time, did not have financial discipline, financial understanding didn't have it. So something like clana, when I was in the financial crisis that I found myself in, would have been abused. It would have been abused.
Speaker 1:I used to tell people when I was in uni that credit cards and overdraft is free money. That's, this is the mentality I had because we weren't taught in schools to have financial discipline, financial literacy and education was not provided. They told us you, you pass your exams, you do this, do this, you get a job. They didn't tell us anything about tax, how it works, investments, financial literacy in terms of your credit scoring, your relationship with money and, from the community that I came from, it was important that we understood how our relationship with money stood and what we should aspire to. These things were not taught. So if you know we're in a cost of living crisis and we have, as a country, financial concerns, you know success here in the UK is capped at £100,000 and you also know that we're in a situation financially where people are struggling.
Speaker 1:Klarna is the devil's work. Sorry, it is, it's the devil's work. And every time I see, especially a small business offer Klarna, I just think to myself. Whilst I understand, like the lack of ethics in business, I do think to myself how does Klarna survive? How? Because if you can't afford something and you have to use Klarna, you still can't afford it. Whether you can pay it back in small portions or in a confined period of time, you still can't afford it. And I think we use that mentality to say, if I need to borrow it, I can't afford it, and I think we use that mentality to say, if I need to borrow it, I can't afford it, then klana as a platform becomes problematic. Now people will say, well, what's the difference between klana and a bank? And I'll tell you what the difference is. The bank uses rigor. It uses rigor. It uses information on an in-depth level to see how, like what you can financially afford. Yeah, then on top of that, they. I find that with banks and don't get me wrong, I think banks also belong to a subsection of the devil, but you know, banks are different I feel like the scrutiny with banks is a bit more in depth and a bit more responsible than a platform like clana.
Speaker 1:When I was growing up, it was g. Is it ge? Bank, store cards. I was a mad one for a store card top shop, jesus lord. I worked for top shop for a while and when I was having enjoying my retail days and literally I was working to pay off my store card. So is it ge? Capital, ge bank or whatever they were called, is the equivalent of klana. Honestly, the interest rate is astronomical, as is with klana, um.
Speaker 1:But the problem that um klana are going through is it's been reported that they're bankrupt. I don't think they're bankrupt. They have basically, as part of this whole, ai and technology, replace humans with bots, ai, bots, um. But the problem with these ai bots is they can't deal with like customer queries or deal with um customers who are facing like financial difficulty and need to like figure out payment plans. So what's happening is you're calling them up trying to tell them listen, I can't afford this, can we lower the payments? Can we work like, can I do, can I pay in longer installments? But I'm. Unfortunately, the bots are not programmed to be able to deal with individual financial concerns that people are approaching klana with who have borrowed money um. So what that has meant is now Klarna has basically built up a debt of $136 million in debt and they're in financial trouble because, effectively, the people that they're giving this money to are unable to pay it back and can't even pay it back within the timeframe provided, which tells me the rigour around this buy now, pay later is very soft, and it has to be soft for it to survive. But ultimately it only works if people pay the money back, but people can't pay the money. But and I'm not gonna lie to you, in this current climate, this financial economy and climate, the aim ain't gonna be to pay you back when they need to pay a water bill. The aim is not gonna be to pay you back when they need to pay a water bill. The aim is not going to be to pay you back when they need to put petrol in their car.
Speaker 1:And the way this country is taxing, taxing, taxing, taxing, taxing. You switch your engine on, you're paying, bruv, you're paying. Go into first gear, it's a wrap. Even if you have automatic go into drive, you are paying something. Congestion charge is being increased from 15 pounds to 18 pounds. It fucking pissed me off. It pissed me off and I'll tell you why. Just make it 20 pounds and stop this bullshit. I feel like if they take, if they don't make it a whole number, it's a psychological thing. When they don't make it a whole number, it doesn't mean it doesn't feel like the increase is that much. But from £15 to £18 is a lot of money. But for everything they charge us for and for every increase, the personal tax allowance still stays at £12,570.
Speaker 1:This is the madness that I don't understand. Every April if my water bill's gone up, my gas and electricity's gone up. Transport is gone up, so using the trains and the buses, that's gone up. My gas and electricity has gone up. Transport has gone up, so using the trains and the buses, that's gone up. Congestion charge Silvertown Tunnel, blackhall Tunnel, dartford Tunnel uh, rotherhide Tunnel yeah, pay for Rotherhide. Rotherhide needs an upgrade, honey, because somebody needs to pay for that. You take the money from Blackhall Tunnel and and Rotherhide Tunnel needs to be sorted out. That tunnel is mad, but I digress.
Speaker 1:But the point is, everything around us is becoming more and more expensive, at least twice a year. Some of the major things we pay for increase in prices, but your salaries are not increasing. Your personal tax allowance isn't increasing the cap, the financial cap on 100k that's not increasing, and what that does is it erodes this, this, the, the, the. What we see in terms of rich, middle class and poor. The middle class gets eroded and it becomes rich and poor. So the fact is, if you remove that middle class and you have rich and poor, you could be earning 80 grand a year and still be classified as poor, because the, the gap between rich and poor will be wider, and this is what I don't think people are understanding.
Speaker 1:I don't think people are understanding and this is what I've always said the business of being married business. Marriage is a business as well as it is love and romance and the evolution of one's love. It's also business because, let's really be real, I'm not gonna lie to you. I earn very well. I do, but by the time I pay all my my bills, everything my financial commitments we have a daughter that's in nursery, we have a mortgage, we have other things that we pay for honestly, by the time I pay for everything I am, I'm actually shocked with what's left. I can't lie. I look at it and I'm like fucking hell.
Speaker 1:And the worst part of it is they don't teach you about financial investment in school, so you're learning it on the job of being an adult. Do you know how mad that is? I'm still on the job of learning about investment still now. And whilst one is in a continuous state of learning, the reality is there's a lot of financial decisions I would have made that would have bettered my life now that I'm 40, but I've had to, kind of like learn on the job. Do you know what I mean? And don't get it twisted.
Speaker 1:I you know for those of you who are new here maybe don't know, or maybe you've listened to it once those financial, financial literacy podcast episodes. You need to go and listen to them. I live by it, I swear by it, I talk on it, I stand on it. You have to have a developed relationship with money. You have to be honest with what your relationship is with money. First and foremost, you have to be clear about what your objective is, because we're living in a country that does not benefit from you having good credit. This country doesn't benefit from that. They need you to be dependent on them. They need you working. They need you working until you're dead. That's what this country wants. This is how this country it wants to operate. It hates us. This country hates its citizens because they don't want us to rest.
Speaker 1:The retirement age continues to increase. I'm telling you, by the time I'm 50, the retirement age will be about 80. It wouldn't surprise me whatsoever. It needs to increase to basically withhold and withstand the economy. So when you have companies like clana saying they're in financial trouble, experiencing financial distress, it becomes really concerning on a macro level when you think about what is it that clana does in terms of what rigor do they do before they give a buy now, pay later? Um situation to somebody? It's dangerous. It's dangerous.
Speaker 1:And if, if the mentality I had back in the day this buy now, pay later I would have abused it, I would have whipped it like fried rice, I'm telling you, I would have maxed it out, max it out. I would have run my race because with me I was fearless bailiff. It's me that got up up in the door in it? No, not sir, not me. But it's not a healthy way to live. It's not healthy because you're always going to be worrying about if who's knocking on the door. Is it a parcel, is it a bailiff?
Speaker 1:And equally, I recognize that, yes, there's been an increase to minimum wage, but an increase to minimum wage and increasing the cost of living means that it cancels itself out. This is what I don't think people understand. Like if everything around you is increasing and then you get pay rise, you ain't, you're still ain't taking home more money. One of my friends, she got a pay rise recently and obviously now she's taxed more and she says toya, I there's, I'm getting less in my pay since my pay rise. That's what she said to me all you lot talking about salary sacrifice, because I see it all over tiktok. It's so annoying and I'll tell you why.
Speaker 1:You get to a financial position where salary sacrifice doesn't make any sense anymore. There's a certain bracket, over 100k that you make that sacrifice won't make sense anymore. Honestly, the salary sacrifice that you're looking to make won't make any sense anymore. You'd have to stick at the bare minimum that you need to sacrifice and then put your fanny to the wind. I'm serious, because it just gets to a point where you're like, all right, I'll make a salary sacrifice, can keep increasing this sacrifice, and then it gets to a point you're like, oh, you're not taking home enough.
Speaker 1:Can you see the problem? We're living in a failed system and I think the sooner we are open to having that real conversation, the sooner that we start thinking about what our plans are. That's the truth. This is a failed system. Says this is his country, is saying, ah, this is a broken system. When a white man is saying the tax here is mad, then you and I as ethnic minorities, ah, we know it's really bad. We know it's really what's bad, to the extent that I read an article the other day and it basically said, organizations do not offer salaries of over 100k, for example, 106 000, don't offer that.
Speaker 1:You're better off offering a potential candidate 95 000 plus an electric car. And even that electric car that everyone's talking about is not cost effective anymore because they're starting to charge now for electric cars, aren't they? The whole media onslaught of, oh, petrol cars, the environment, oh my god, diesel, diesel cars of the devil, petrol. You know, thunberg? You running up and down screaming in everybody's flipping face. Now look at it. Electric cars. Oh, you don't have to pay for this, so you get this benefit. They're removing it now. They're charging you for your flipping electric contraptions, because me, I don't want an electric car. Sorry, listen, when it comes to electricity I'm concerned, you understand, about the money and about the safety. I don't like electric cars. But the point is it's not cost-effective anymore.
Speaker 1:But in that situation where you're offering a candidate 95K plus electric car, it becomes economically beneficial. And remember, if you're under 100K you still qualify for child tax credits, so it's a win-win. If you're under 100k, you still qualify for child tax credits, so it's a win-win if you have children, that is. But it's just becoming a problem and a lot of people are like, oh okay, we need to leave the UK, but you've got places like Spain, which again was like financially more viable for a lot of people, that Spain are now introducing 100% tax on properties. So if your house that you're buying in Spain is 40,000, you'll pay tax of 100%, so 40,000. So, effectively, if you're looking to buy a house in Spain, you need to have twice the amount to pay for the tax, so 80,000 on deck and if your house is 80,000, the tax is 80,000. So you'd have 160 000. Oh yeah, 160 000 on deck. Ah, look at my dyslexia looking to disgrace me. Hey, I can't count, please. So, yeah, it's just one of them things. I think it's a.
Speaker 1:It's an honest conversation you have to have with yourself, because I was explaining this on my Instagram. You know you have to stay sharp. We talk we just spoke about AI and the advancement of technology. You've got to stay sharp because if you know that the retirement age is increasing, right, that means you're going to be working for longer, so that means you have to stay abreast of what is cutting edge technology, how your role is evolving, how it's adapting to technology and AI. You've got to stay sharp. You've got to be a sharp subject matter expert, you have to understand how things are evolving. And you've got to keep your fanny to the wind. You've got to your fanny's, got to be to the wind, babes, because I'm telling you you blink, you're out of a job. Blink, you're gone. So you need to know what. You're out of a job, blink, you're gone. So you need to know what you're doing.
Speaker 1:And if you are still on this whole trope of your manager, I done told you your manager is not the architect of your career. Done told you in a podcast a couple of years ago. Go listen to that podcast. I've been telling you all the time Because the way things are going, the way things are going, number one, I never really believe retirement existed, but at least we was in control of what that existed. Like to us. But retirement can't exist if the retirement age continues to increase and the average lifespan in the UK is, I think, I don't know. I think it's like was it 80? At 85, I can't remember, but just let's say hypothetically, the average lifespan is 80 years old and then they increase the retirement age to 80. Are you going to retire? No, so they're going to work you to your dead.
Speaker 1:Do you understand the point I am trying to make to you? You are the architect of your career. Please build, continue building. Whether you are starting your career in the throes of your career, you have to be in a continuous state of learning and growth. Every opportunity needs to be a launch pad to your next when you're setting those objectives. Listen, I'm just allowing this cycle to continue and then you and I are going to get chatting. Ok, we're going to be talking.
Speaker 1:So, just on that whole theme, hmrc so allegedly and apparently HMRC are soon going to be introducing quarterly self-assessments. So I'm not just talking about people who are contractors, I'm talking about everyday people like you and I. And the reason I'm talking about everyday people like you and I are those of us who have savings accounts that earn interest on a savings account, because why else would you have a savings account if you couldn't earn interest on it? Now HMRC are basically saying that interest is considered as additional income that you have to pay tax on.
Speaker 1:So what they're planning to do, hmrc, is they've made an agreement, allegedly with some of the major high street banks Barclays, natwest, santander, lloyds to report on all its customers who have savings accounts, specifically high interest savings accounts or just interest savings accounts. They'll be writing to you to say ah, you didn't do self-assessment. You've been earning um an amount on your um savings. By the way, we know how much is in your savings. It has been reported by the bank that this is how much interest you've earned and now you need to pay tax on that interest. So either we're going to take a percentage of your savings account yeah, a percentage of the funds in your savings accounts to pay for the interest that you haven't um accounted for and notified us, or, and continue to, we'll continue to take that money, um, and you have to file self-assessment.
Speaker 1:Do you know how mad and wild that is? Your savings account, the money in that savings account. You've already paid tax on it, by the way. But because you get interest, which would be like a benefit of having the savings account, now you have to do self-assessment on the tax and potentially there will be rates from hmrc where they'll be writing to you saying to you ah, you pay, you have X amount in your savings account. This is how much interest we're taking out from your savings. So nothing's safe. Do we resort to keeping money underneath a shoebox underneath the bed? Because me? I don't know. Because if the house something happens, ah, money didn't go on. So this is just mad. This is the country we live in. It's feeling like a financial police state. That's how it feels personally to me.
Speaker 1:Do you know how hard I have worked and many of us have worked to develop a good, reasonable relationship with money? That makes sense? Do you know how hard my credit score? Let me tell you my credit score used to be 100. Yeah, and then it went down further. Let me just cover my bum and not tell you what it went down to. My credit at the moment is 950. I'm 40 years old.
Speaker 1:Had I understood finances and fully understand the implications of making financial decisions and had developed a healthy relationship with money, I would have managed my credit properly. Do you understand? Now some people say, well, at least you've got a good credit now, yes, but at what cost? Because it costs me a lot. I owed a lot of money. Luckily, I knew how to get things written off. You know limitation, time limits and stuff. I know all of that stuff. But the reality is, even before I could do all of that stuff but the reality is, even before I could do all of that. There were things I had to actually pay, like that time had not elapsed, I had to pay and it stopped me from being able to do certain things. Jenna's fan and I'm having to explain certain things and I was being charged a higher interest to have a credit card and stuff. It was kind of crazy. I paid out a lot of money to be able to clean up my credit that I could have been enjoying the fruits of number one that money but actually understanding how to use credit positively, because it's a positive way to use credit, but Klana, isn't it? I'll just tell you that now.
Speaker 1:But the point is, we're living in a society that doesn't want us to be great. They don't want us to have any money. In a society that doesn't want us to be great. They don't want us to have any money. They want us to be poor so that we can continue to work till we're dead. They want us to continue to build this economy until we're dead. They want to tax you, um, in every which way they can. If, if you have a hustler mentality, for example, and you're like right on a side business on ebay, ebay are now reporting the money that you're making. So any, any, which avenue there is of growth.
Speaker 1:This government, this society in the uk that we live in blocks your progress. This country is an enemy of progress. I'm telling you this right now. I'm telling you that your success is limited to a hundred thousand, and a hundred thousand now is not as much as 100,000 back in the day because of inflation, because of the cost of living. Now 100,000 isn't as much as you think after tax, because that 100,000 in a year, your actual take home after tax, I think, did they say it's like 60,000 or 70,000, something like that, and the rest is going towards tax. It's going towards your healthcare that you can't have access to. It's going towards your healthcare. You can't get an appointment with the GP, can't get test results, can't even actually go in and get blood tests. Yeah, it's going towards, you know, adult social care, but, god forbid, you need to rely on adult social care services. It's crazy. If you're paying taxes and benefiting from what you're paying taxes in, then you could stomach it. But everything is increasing, but your personal tax allowance and your salaries Crazy, crazy town.
Speaker 1:So I recently read a article about hybrid working, how it disproportionately affects mums, women, sorry, no, it disproportionately affects women, um, how companies are removing hybrid, flexible working and demanding that staff um work from the office. Now I I fully understand that primary caregivers are not always the women. Sometimes you have men who are the primary caregivers, but for the purposes of the, the article that was written in glamour, it's from the lens of the primary caregiver being the mum. Now, I'm a mum. I'm married to my husband. He's a very good father, but I am the primary caregiver. So the sacrifices made by primary caregiver is time. Now people say, oh, but is it a sacrifice? Well, it is, because it's still the time to be able to provide that primary care. So we're talking about, from my perspective as a career mum, dropping off my child, picking her up, taking her to her appointments. It's also about the childcare that both me and Kate pay for.
Speaker 1:If you remove flexible working, what happens in terms of your career trajectory? It depletes, doesn't it? Because you'll take time off if your child is ill. Now my daughter's in nursery, and anyone knows of the children in nursery age. Every other week your child has some type of virus and, and any one time it can happen. Your child could leave in the morning, you could drop your child off in the morning and two, three hours later your child has a fever. You're in the hospital for for a day or two like it's crazy town, but that's how it goes. Um. And when you're a career mom, you're. You're then balancing all these other roles as well, because you're looking after the house, you're doing whatever you need to do in the house, you're catering for your child or children. If you've got multiples um and you're still required to show up in the full capacity of whatever your job is and as a woman, that's crazy. We all we know like the inequality in terms of the pay gap between men and women already then when you remove flexible working from women, you further deepen the pay gap because then you're having to reduce your hours, go part-time. But it affects us at a disproportionate level because we're already disproportionately disadvantaged. Um, it's just. It's scary that you could be working on a hybrid model maybe once or twice a week um in the office and the rest from home or fully remote, and then an employer just one day says, right, you know when they hire you, yep, we've got flexible working. And one day they draw the gauntlet and they're like right, everyone returned back into the office. Do you know how much upheaval that is for a mother or a family to be able to adjust their life to now being in the office.
Speaker 1:What about the financial impact of then having to pay for additional child care? So either you drop your child off earlier at a nursery or a school, breakfast, clubs and things like that. They cost money. Some of these things are not covered by the child tax allowance, so you're having to pay for that. And remember, with the child tax credits as well, there's usually a top-up that you're required to pay. The child tax credit doesn't pay for um. So if it's child tax credits for a certain amount of hours, you still need to top it up. Like it's not, it doesn't cover everything. So now, if you are now having to go into the office monday to friday, you're having to pick, put, drop off your child earlier. So you have to pay for it and require after-school services, maybe from the school trial manager, I don't know, but you'll then have to pay additional funds now, because that nine to five is not reflected in the education system, is it?
Speaker 1:You work a nine to five or a nine to six? Your school, your child's school, starts at nine and finishes at 3, 30 or three o'clock. How can you juggle being a parent, a consciously active, present parent, and then going to the office five days a week? Nine to five? Nine to six, that's mad. Or sometimes eight, thirty till six. It's just crazy to me. It just doesn't align.
Speaker 1:So organizations now are increasingly asking their workforce to come in five days a week and they're saying it's shared collaboration, interaction, it's improving the growth of a company. But that's all shit, because COVID proved to us if there was ever an experiment about kind of the workforce it would have been the pandemic where suddenly organizations understood or the ones that didn't quickly learn how to utilize its workforce and work remotely, how to utilize things like zoom and teams not skype, because skype don't exist anymore but being able to actually connect remotely and deliver organizations. Reportedly there was many organizations that did financially really really well working remotely. In fact you work longer hours when you're remote, actually because you have the ability to start earlier. You work through lunch, maybe you work at your desk. In the same way, you log off at five and log back in at eight when the children are asleep. So there are so many benefits from working remotely.
Speaker 1:Now don't get it twisted if you're new to the working world. I can understand how being in the office is beneficial. I mean, after all, many of us started working in the office. But the point is, for those of us who've had that experience, and as a black woman myself, it's safer being a black woman working remotely or a hybrid model once, once a month, in in the office because I can't be dealing with all that fucking politics. The politics we deal with on a remote level is already out of point, which is annoying. Can you imagine?
Speaker 1:Five days a week we talk about the financial burden of now having to go in the office. The cost of travel is mad. Before 9.45, to go into london is 50 pounds, 50 pounds there and back, 50 pounds. After 9 45 is 25 pounds. Is it 25 pounds return? I think is yeah, that's a lot of money and it continues to increase.
Speaker 1:So it's not like you know. There is like a they haven't. They haven't introduced something that says, well, if you go to work within a certain time, so if you get on the train, then it's like 20 off. What? Like? They haven't come up with the initiatives that make um, the transport system financially viable.
Speaker 1:Here in the uk it's really, really, really expensive taking my daughter out on the weekends into london is very expensive and, whilst you know, she's still too young for us to be charged for her ticket. Me and my husband's ticket is very expensive and people say, well, you live outside london, yes, but y'all in london are still paying very high price for the cost of travel versus what you get. By the way, the bus driver, the train drivers are still late, somebody ain't opening the doors. There's not enough space on that transport system. So let's not talk like, oh, all the money is going into investing in the transport system, because then them chairs on the train are still dusty, crusty and rusty. Yeah, there's not enough space. So you're now having to spend more money on water, on your water bill, to wash at least three times a day, because you're having to deal with the dirty odours on the train. Yeah, there's a lot of cost associated in transport, it's not just the tickets. People don't understand. So, yeah, I mean, glamour magazine did a piece on it and they reported that 50% of women are leaving the workforce after the first three years. And I understand it, because you're leaving at 56%, because you're now having to go into the office, and the cost of childcare versus how much you make is probably even so, that makes no sense anymore. But they cut the benefit system so they don't make it even easy for you to be on benefits. It's mad, it's just crazy. Crazy, it's crazy. Town, absolutely nuts.
Speaker 1:Um, I need to tell you about, uh, a little experiment that happened in 2024 and um, it's to do with linkedin, oh god. So there was a lady called alia jones. Aliaah Jones is a black woman and she works in the creative space and she was trying to get a job through LinkedIn and she couldn't get a job. It was going on for months and, yes, she had saved some money to kind of deal with, kind of the gap between her being in between jobs. But she decided to conduct a social experiment to expose the racial biases in corporate hiring. Um, what was supposed to be a one-week experiment lasted for eight months, um, and the results were shocking.
Speaker 1:So what she did is she changed her profile picture and changed her name to Emily, and the profile picture was of a white woman same resume, same skill set. Nothing changed in terms of like things like that, just the name and the picture. So she no longer had a picture, no longer had a name. She changed it and where um recruiters had previously refused to connect with her on LinkedIn, suddenly, as soon as she changed her name to Emily and her picture, they started to connect with her. She started getting interviews, she started getting roles referred to her, and what would happen is she would go as Emily and then turn up as herself, and then what she was finding is that either they would cut the interview short or, you know, they would long her interview off to make it seem like she didn't get the role because she didn't meet certain requirements, when clearly the requirement has to do with race and has to do with other biases. You know, um, and what she found is that when she was applying as herself, that what would be advertised, say, as a two-stage process, will suddenly be a five-stage process. So the barrier to entry got higher depending on if she was herself versus if she was emily.
Speaker 1:Um, um, to be honest with you, when I read it, I was, I was shocked, and then I went on her tiktok, where she further explains, like, what she did and why she did it. And like we understand, as as black people, specifically black women, we understand, um, that being black in corporate spaces is a very unique experience, but when you see it in 4k, so like this experiment, it really makes you think about how many roles you haven't gotten, or how many times you've been overlooked because of your race, because your face doesn't fit, because your name, because even if you don't have a picture, they'll make an assumption based on your name, which is crazy talk. It took two days to replace the Pope, but we've got organisations giving you four to five layers of interviews. That's mad. And then, on top of it, they want to pay you the bare minimum, but they want the maximum through an interview process is wild.
Speaker 1:I think what it goes to show about LinkedIn and other platforms is the racial biases that sit in them and the racial discrimination in corporate hiring or in any form of hiring. Um, and this is why I always say okay, you know, you have to be the best of the best. As black women, we have to be the best of the. We don't have a choice, because this is the only way that we are able to differentiate from what everybody else has. There has to be something that gives us the edge, because if we're not over and above, above and beyond, we're not getting recognized. But the bar is so high for us. And then you're working with people that haven't even sat one GCSE in their life. But here you are with your PhD, your, your master's, all these degrees that you have, but the person you're probably reporting into has been a I call them racial social climbers, um, and are only qualified view via experience that somebody like us has had to give them by training them. Do you know how crazy that is? So let's talk all things.
Speaker 1:The diddy trial so this is now the third week of the Diddy Trial and I have been following I'm going to put a link in the show notes description of the lady I'm following who provides amazing updates. I mean amazing Short, sharp, punchy, detailed, short, sharp, punchy, detailed. And she whispers. Which punchy detailed. And she whispers, which I love because it's forcing you to really listen to what she says. I'm sure that she didn't see it as a business, but the business model is amazing how she communicates that information, the detail of that information, and actually she's given me an opportunity to really understand how the court system works in in the US.
Speaker 1:I've done some of my own research as well. I've got people that I know that work in the US justice system so they're able to like tell me, especially in the state of New York, like how things work and stuff like that. So I've done a bit of research also, but I just want to give you a short, sharp synopsis of kind of his charges and some of the witness testimony that has been provided. So, um, diddy has been charged with a list of eight crimes and it has been alleged that um the prosecution only have to only have to prove two of the eight crimes um for him to be found guilty of a ricoICO trial, now RICO, which he's been charged with. I don't really believe that, because if that's the case they only have to prove two of the A why charge him with A? It just something doesn't make sense to me. Now, the list of crimes that PDD has been charged with is kidnapping and variations of kidnapping, arson and an attempt of arson or conspiracy, bribery of a witness attempted and the conspiracy to bribe a witness witness tampering, forced labour, aiding and abetting sex trafficking, aiding and abetting prostitution, transport or prostitution transportation, inducement and drug distribution and conspiracy to distribute.
Speaker 1:Now, cassie's testimony was the first testimony. It's been alleged that she is the star witness in this trial and, to be honest, just high level. Her testimony was very, very, very compelling. It was very genuine. In my opinion, it was very honest and I think what I what really struck me was how honest she was, the rawness of her honesty. Her husband, the father of her children, is sitting there, um, in the gallery. He's hearing every nut and bolt probably not for the first time, but he's hearing it in a public setting and she went into detail.
Speaker 1:Her cross-examination was unbelievable, um, in terms of her honesty. That, when I say unbelievable, as in their approach to it, was unbelievable. But for me, cassie makes a reliable, compelling witness reliable, compelling. She's honest in her answers. She's vulnerable in her answers and I think that, based on what they asked her, she was honest. And I think there are certain things that they couldn't explore, like her relationship with Kim Porter, you know all that type of stuff. But that would have led down somewhere that this case didn't need to go for the, based on the charges levied against PDD, bearing in mind that when Cassie took the stand, she was eight months pregnant. So that level of vulnerability has to be noted.
Speaker 1:But what was also quite scary is that diddy's I say diddy, diddy's team, whatever asked for a fast track trial. That's why we're hearing this trial in may as opposed to next year or later on in this year. And when they came to learn allegedly when they came to learn that Cassie was eight months pregnant when she would testify, they tried to have the trial delayed right, so they didn't even want the trial to be heard at the date that was given. And the judge said no, you asked for a fast track. This is fast track. Take the witnesses as you find them. And clearly he wanted a delay in the trial because the visual impact of seeing Cassie pregnant and the testimony that she would have to give like whether you want to admit it or not, that would be quite compelling, that would be quite emotional to see, and also the emotional turmoil of what she has gone through would be testified on oath on the stand, and the visual representation of her being pregnant in in in Diddy's case probably doesn't play to whatever narrative that he's hoping to push. But the judge was like no, take the witnesses as you find them, this trial is going ahead.
Speaker 1:Um, another testimony that was compelling was Cassie's mum, and Cassie's mum, um, you know, she asked questions about what she knows of what happened between her daughter, cassie, and her name is Cassie Fine, not Ventura, remember. Cassie's now married to Alex Fine, who used to be P Diddy's personal trainer, and Cassie's mum spoke about how Diddy had contacted her after Diddy and Cassie had broken up and said you need to pay me £20,000 for all the money I've invested in Cassie. She's like now gone off, she's started another relationship, she's going doing her thing, but if you do not pay me this £20,000, I'm going to release some of the footage that I have of your daughter and her mum allegedly used her home assurity release, I think, either used it as sure to release the equity to raise that twenty thousand and within three days two or three days, um Diddy sent the money back to her. That's called extortion. So those of you who are confused about how the prosecution are building their case they have to set the scene and it's very interesting, um, how diddy's team, his entourage, are part of the rico case.
Speaker 1:It's how he used his power to dominate, to be able to traffic, to be able to conspire, to now be filed with Rico charges. It's about the blackmail of it, all the recordings. It's the Cassie feeling like she couldn't say no and walk away from the freak-offs, the dominance and how he would manipulate and threaten her. The abuse and how he would abuse her and that would control her decision making. It's the sustained and consistent abuse and I apologise if I haven't said trigger warning at the beginning of this, but I will put a trigger warning in the show notes. I have to remember to do that. Actually, you know it's about the you know Cassie talks about in her testimony, about catching UTIs and all other things, a manner of things that she caught being forced to participate in these free-offs during her menstrual cycle. This is what we're talking about when we talk about Didi and the dominance and some of these charges that have been levied against him. It's how he was able to create this criminal enterprise and abuse his position. It's not just about the domestic violence. The domestic violence plays a role in terms of coercive control and the ability that he then had, through the domestic violence, to control, to extort, to intimidate, to threaten, to get what he wanted.
Speaker 1:Kid Cuddy took the stand. And Kid Cuddy, to be honest, I don't know what he gave to the testimony like. For me it was like I don't. I don't think he added any value. In my opinion, the worst witness was Dawn Richards. She was the worst witness because one can say, because of what she experienced, she's remembering things in quite a distorted way. Things are coming to her later.
Speaker 1:We did hair witness testimony for for somebody who deals with trauma, victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence and talks about how they recall information, how how they relate and things like that, which was really really informative. But dawn richard's inability to kind of be clear about has, like her experiences, made her unreliable because what she had said to the prosecutor and what she was saying on the stand was slightly different. And we're talking about reliability here. You know, whether you, whatever you think of pdd, his life is on the line here. So if we know that he needs access to a fair trial, part of that fair trial is painting the witnesses as unreliable and it was easy, out of all the witnesses, it was easier to paint dawn richards as an unreliable witness, bearing in mind she has a civil lawsuit currently pending towards pdd for a lot of the things that she testified on the stand. Um, we've heard from pdd's personal assistant that is going by a pseudonym as Mia, and Mia talks about being sexually assaulted by P. Diddy talks about her life, the things that she witnessed, the abuse of Cassie, the abuse that she sustained at the hands of Diddy um and just the like it it's.
Speaker 1:The trial is interesting, I think number one because it's P Diddy and P Diddy factored in a lot of our upbringing in terms of music and, for those of us that was born in the 80s and the 90s, even in the 2000s. P Diddy played a really massive role for the culture both in the US and the UK. Up until recently he was, he was, he was announced to be a billionaire. His music spans decades. It's also been well documented about his, his business approach. You know he's quite abusive towards his staff. We witnessed it on Making the Band. He had another reality show. I think it's what do you want to work for? Diddy or whatever it was called, how he interacts with. You know people who wanted an opportunity with him in terms of the breaking music and stuff and he's how he abused them like, how he treated them like they were nothing and you're building a picture of a man um to prove a lot of these charges and so far I think the prosecution are doing a really good job.
Speaker 1:I think the prosecution are very clear about kind of their approach. I think diddy's defense. I'll give an example of diddy's defense. They didn't cross-examine cassie's mum. They don't want to shake that hornet's nest and what she testifies of under oath is clearly extortion. So I think pdd's um defense team were like well, this is cassie's mom, we shake the hornet's nest and who, who knows what else is going to come out. So they chose not to cross examine her. She made for a very powerful witness as her. She made for a very powerful witness as well. Mia made for a very powerful witness.
Speaker 1:They had one of the sex workers, I think his name's the Punisher. His testimony was a bit wayward. I don't know why the prosecution? I don't know. I didn't understand why they used him as a witness. I don't get that. Who else? The stylist? I think his name's dionte. He made for a powerful witness. He was very authentic. Um diddy could be facing life in prison. You know this is uh, it's not child's play. This is, this is serious. This is and personally I think Diddy's guilty.
Speaker 1:It was alleged that he was given a plea deal which he rejected before the start of the trial and honestly it wouldn't surprise me if he accepts that plea deal, the way things are going. It's also alleged that he's asked the judge for permission to convene with his defence team every day after the trial day, from five to ten, every single day. And I thought to myself your team are working hours on the clock to defend you and then you want them to work from five to ten after a full court day. But that's testament of how he works. We saw him making the band. Unrealistic expectations of people, treating people like shit, treating people like robots, being abusive, verbally abusive. It's disgusting, um. So yeah, I mean let's see what happens. I mean the free cost, the drug, drug use, the abuse, the domestic violence paints a very harrowing picture of Cassie's time with him.
Speaker 1:But I'm also going to be one of those people that says I feel like they need to open up the case of Kim Porter's death. Honestly, I do think something's not right if it is to be believed that Diddy had a hand in, or allegedly paid someone to blow up kid cudi's car, together with the things that were found in the raids of his properties. Ah, this man is dangerous. This man is very, very, very dangerous and the scary thing is his whole um legacy is now this it's how he's used music, how he's abused his um position as a mogul. We have another five weeks of the diddy trial, so again, it could go either way. Um, it's not over till it's over, as my late father used to say. So I think it's important that we stay abreast of kind of how the trial develops, but the verdict, oh, who knows how long the jury will take to reach a unanimous verdict. But what is sure and what is for sure is Diddy will never recover from this and of all the pictures of his white parties, all the celebrities it's interesting how no one's saying anything but a lot of them witnessed a lot of the abuse and I find it hard to believe that weren't there weren't a lot of them witnessed a lot of the abuse, and I find it hard to believe that there weren't a lot of celebrities involved in the drug taking. But yeah, let's wait and see what happens in the Diddy trial.
Speaker 1:I just thought I would kind of give my update, tell you what I think you know, reaffirm to you what some of those charges are, because I feel like people forget what the charges are or don't understand why you know they're really talking about, kind of the domestic abuse and stuff. It builds a picture of a lot of these charges that have been levied against him. So hopefully, as this trial progresses, we'll be able to get a clearer picture of what. You know how the prosecution are proving their case beyond reasonable doubt. But listen, I'm going gonna leave it there, um. I just want to give you a few updates. What's going on, um, I have a couple of things I wanted to share with you guys. Like I have some dilemmas and my experience of a client where I work decided to scream at me yeah, because they won't get in their way. So he's just shouting at me and I dealt with him good and proper. Believe that. Haven't heard back from them since, but that's a. That's an episode for another day.
Speaker 1:I also want to talk in the next episode about my l and road. So road is um owned by? What's his name? Justin bieber's wife, what's her name? I can't remember her name um and they're comparing the buyout by elf, I think they. I can't remember how much they bought out for I think it's a billion or 1.3 billion, something like that and they're comparing it to my house selling their business and how um.
Speaker 1:Road has got a better response than what the founder of my l gone. The founder of my l is a black woman, um, and she has gone on the record to say that there was a clear disparity in in her treatment and they both sold business to multi-million pound corporations. But I think what the owner of my l is missing here is the alleged um change to the ingredients of what made her products popular allegedly. But we can leave that for another day because I'm going to do some extensive research and come back and report to y'all. But I hope you're all doing well. Thank you for rocking with me. Thank you for the love. Thank you for the support. Thank you for the emails in the mailbox. I read them, I see them, I appreciate you and I'm going to leave it there. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 2:My name's Toya Washington and I'll see you on the next episode of the Toya Talks podcast. Thank you,