BHM Panel Transcript
Jared Loman: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. And welcome to the Kajabi edge podcast, where we talk to real entrepreneurs to give you an engine Kajabi. Jared Lowman vice-president of customer experience. And today we have an incredibly special episode for everyone here. We have a panel of a lot of, well, actually a lot of previous podcast guests, as well as one new podcast guest, as well as kind of a special edition from the Kajabi family as well, to open up a conversation around.
and diversity all in celebration of black history month. So today I am joined by not one, not two, not three but four special guests on the podcast. We have my friend, uh, from Kajabi UX developer, but also co-chair of Kajabi is minority in tech group. [00:01:00] Um, he is also AAF mosaic champion in Baton Rouge for diversity inclusion.
He's going to be helping us lead the panel today. So first of all, welcome Quintin. Hello. And in addition to that, Two of our past podcast guests. We have my friend Tony Collyer Tony, how you doing
Toni Collier: today? I'm so good. So glad to be beyond excited to have a good conversation today.
Jared Loman: Right on. And my also friend Henry Tolbert past podcast, guests, how you doing Henry?
I'm doing
Henry Tolbert: great. Excited to have this conversation with these other amazing leaders. I love it.
Jared Loman: And then finally, our new podcast guests, which will be appearing. A future episode coming soon, my friend green. How's it going today at Equa?
AttiQuewa Green: Thanks so much for having me super excited to be here.
Jared Loman: I love it. Well, before we get into like the panel session, I figured it would be helpful for us to just in traditional Kajabi edge fashion to kind of go through our like super, super succinct, like elevator pitches.
Just to talk a little bit about what each of us does for anyone who perhaps hasn't caught a previous episode and of [00:02:00] course, for a Tigua in your case, they haven't heard about you quite yet. So maybe it was. Start with you at tequilas since we haven't heard from you yet. And then we'll run through elevator pitches with everyone else as
AttiQuewa Green: well.
Okay, perfect. So, um, of course I'm a, Tigua, I'm the owner of that finance chick. I specifically help we overthinking procrastinating perfectionist women create wealth building systems so they can build wealth where they are and achieve freedom to live a life they love. I've been in the finance industry for over 12 years and I've helped over 5,000 women start in maintaining their money journey.
Awesome. Well, I
Jared Loman: cannot wait to hear a little bit more about that when we speak of. Um, let's move on to you Henry, tell us a little bit about you.
Henry Tolbert: Yes. So I am the owner and founder of simple systems consulting. We work with pastors, churches, and denominations to help them facilitate growth, spiritual, numerical, and financial.
And after many years, as a pastor myself and seeing just the need for systems to help better disciple and just grow people up in their faith. We come alongside leaders and organizations that help them do just that. And so at this point, we've [00:03:00] worked with about a hundred different organizations and. So help them facilitate building the systems that they need to really just help them fulfill the vision, but they believe that God has given them awesome.
Jared Loman: And last but not least Tony.
Toni Collier: Yeah. Um, I get to lead a women's organization called broken crayons, still color, or we're just really walking with women through a healing journey. We're pointing them to resources and professionals, and we've kind of. Like, you know, this succinct journey of what does it actually look like to heal?
What does it look like to have into counseling? What is counseling? How do we do it? How do we transition community? And it's been a real beautiful journey. We've gotten to connect with women all over the world who are going through divorce and trauma and abuse and all the different things. And it's been a beautiful
AttiQuewa Green: journey.
Jared Loman: Yes, definitely listened to all of these episodes. Please, please. If you haven't heard them, uh, they are great, great stories with that. Uh, Clinton. Let's kind of like pass the torch over to you and let's get this rolling. This is of course, eh, I don't, I don't think we already mentioned this, but this is really all [00:04:00] about everyone on this call.
It's about your story as always, uh, you know, the Kajabi edge podcast is not on a mission to just shout out just Kajabi. This is your story. So this is really your time to share, but Quentin, I'm going to kind of pass this off to you to kind of get this rolling.
Quinton Jason: So talk to all of you. And, um, we're gonna start with just a general question. First, let's get into some numbers. Shall we? And the American census data shows that there are upwards of 530,000 black on businesses in the U S that equates to roughly 0.02, 3%. So with that said, what does being a congested hero mean to you and whoever?
Uh, let me, let me go to Tico first. We'll just
Toni Collier: go around.
AttiQuewa Green: To me, it means that I get to one help my, my community, you know, achieve financial freedom, but it also means I get to change the legacy, you know, of myself and my family and, you know, past generations, because it's been a [00:05:00] lot getting here. And as someone who.
Right now the only business owner in my family, it's an interesting perspective to have for one, but, um, it allows me to pretty much take the Baton further than the last, you know, race. So it really means a lot to be able to change what our family will look like. Few years. Excellent. Tony, let me
Toni Collier: go to you.
Yeah. Um, for me, it's, it's, it's almost like a mixture of, of strategy and technical as well as like a tick was said, just legacy as well. I remember going through my own personal healing journey and it was really hard and you just kind of figuring it out as you go. How do I figure this out? And I think for a lot of people, strategy is what's missing it's, it's the actual tools to put into place the journeys that they need to go on, to go from a, to Z to really experienced transformation in whatever that means in the finance industry and the spiritual industry and the healing industry.
And so it just means being like a, a strategy bearer. So. [00:06:00] Hey, I know what you're going through and it's crazy and it's wild and I know it's really scary and confusing, but here's some steps for you to take that can get you there a little bit faster. And then of course, legacy billing. I think about my own daughter as she battles with, with many mental and emotional issues.
And I just am always thinking about her. And when she gets older, what does it look like for us to build something that she can look back on and use herself and be proud of? And maybe for the generations to come. And you're
Henry Tolbert: telling me what you got here. Me, man. You know, I tell you, if you go on my Instagram, you'll see that every once in a while, probably every three months or so, I post the shirt where you, my first Kajabi hero shirt, you know, and I still wear the lanyard proudly on my keys.
And it's a big deal because it really just represents an opportunity for me to really just on my unique space in the world. Right. You know, I was kind of looking at some of Tony's stuff and, you know, just the broken crayons, still color and, and it was just, it just jumped out to me so great. But. You know, growing up, I grew up in a church all my life.
You know, my grandfather was, um, a part, a [00:07:00] huge part of the civil rights movement. My grandfather, my great uncle here in Birmingham, Alabama. Um, they, uh, organize a ton of the marches with Dr. King. Uh, it's even said that my grandfather was the last person in Birmingham to see Dr. King alive before he was assassinated because he was a young preacher to time.
He was a driver. And so the church has always been a part of my life, but one of the challenges I always felt I always had it that I felt like the broken crayon is that while I enjoyed. The church and I love all the things that it represented, what it does for people. You know, oftentimes I found myself thinking about things in the church that I felt like other people weren't thinking about and found myself thinking about, as Tony said, the systems and the structures and the processes and going like, Hey, this is great, man.
These people showed up today. What happens next? What do we do with them? What does a church funnel look like? What is this? And I remember it feeling like that. And it was for a long time, it was really weird because I could find those things in churches that didn't look like me. And so as I kind of went on my journey and.
Lead on my own. I really started to embrace it. You know what church looks like, the [00:08:00] expression that God gives me, you know, whatever that is. And so we started on a college campus at grandma's state university, and we really just started building it out the best way we could, but it was in that process that we really learned that, you know what?
I give out an opportunity to rebellious with the berries on phage because of the challenge. I have an opportunity today to stake a new place in this. And to make a difference through it. And so being a Kajabi hero to me is just so amazing because I try to spend so much of my life being a hero maker.
And so when could Javi say to me, Hey, look, man, you're a hero because you hit this bearing, you hit this goal and you got started. It just meant something really phenomenal to me. That's excellent. I'm
Quinton Jason: going to go one step further. So not at y'all have gotten hero status. I'm sure that the idea of like generational wealth is like fully attainable.
So circle bag, I'm gonna use the same order and if that's okay with y'all, but it's equal. What is generational wealth means? Oh,
AttiQuewa Green: really. It means that a lot of things that I had to go through and what my mom had to go through, as far as [00:09:00] our personal traumas, it's something that they can avoid because I know that money is a tool that can be helpful or hurtful depending on how you use it.
And I know for me, there's just, there's a lot of things that I don't want my kids to ever have to deal with, you know, whatever. Mental abuse, physical abuse and unfortunately sexual abuse. It's one of those things that if you have money, it solves a lot of problems where you can get out if you want to, because you have the means you don't have to worry about, oh, I don't get to play this sport this year because mom doesn't have the money.
We have two other kids. She has to take care of. Like, it's a means to be able to have freedom, mental health. And a positive mental health at that, and just be able to be present and live our lives instead of having to just survive. I want to be able to have our generations thrive going forward.
Music: I thought I was the preacher.
Toni Collier: I want to [00:10:00] piggyback on the thriving. That's exactly what I was thinking. It's not just about surviving. Gosh, for so many years, centuries, there's just been this sense of surviving. How can we get to the next, I remember my dad saying all the time, like we just, you know, we're living paycheck to paycheck, but at least we have it.
And there's a sense of gratitude that comes with that and hustle if we're going to be honest, but I just really think that. It is, is the ability to thrive, not just financially, but within any type of position. I love that you included has not just about finances, but it's about your mental state and your social state and emotionally driving, being able to put words to feelings and.
How to have healthy relationships. I want my, you know, I want to have wealthiness in my marriage and with my kids, I'm only ever got a little boy on the way. And I think about, you know, w what are we going to teach him about wealth and what it actually means to leave a legacy of not just finances, but also like our name, [00:11:00] our names series of legacy.
So I, I just, I love what you said. I love what you said. I think it's
Henry Tolbert: true. And I think it's, I agree with everything. And, uh, because for me, I really, when I think about passing on wealth, because you know, my wife and I are getting ready to celebrate 14 years of marriage coming up in April and 15 years. I'm sorry.
And, uh, and we have four daughters together. And so when I think about my girls and I think about just, you know, who they will become in the future, I want to lead them resources. Uh, a teak will say, I don't want them to have the same struggles I had. You know, I lived in every part of Birmingham, uh, because every year me and my single mom and my younger brother were moving and we were moving from place to place.
And I have a great relationship with most people in my family. Cause at some point I lived with them all during my childhood. Right. And so, and that served as well in some ways. But my girls going to have a different experience because of where we are finding. But the biggest thing that I, that I really think about now is the mindset is passing on to them.
The mindset that says you can decide, you know, because I think that's what wealth is. Wealth is a freedom. [00:12:00] It's a freedom to say, if there's something in my heart, I have the space to go and pursue it. I don't want them to have to choose between. They're passionate on a job. I don't, I don't want deer. And then their time to have to be given away for pennies on the dollar because they got to pay the bills.
I want them to have the mindset of freedom that says, Hey, look, I want to be able to go and pursue. I have it within me to go and pursue this thing that's been put in my heart. And so I think it's all those different things. It's the spiritual, the financial, the physical, the relational, all of those things are super important.
I think we have to model that in our community so they have more people can see it. Speaking
Quinton Jason: of modeling things, this is something that I'm interested in. As you you've gotten to Kajabi heroes, that is because you have to charge for your services right now. There are, there is an issue in some areas where the idea of charging with your worth is seen as taboo, but y'all have gotten here by recognizing you're worth charging accordingly, and that seeing it as anything pay.
Services for time or [00:13:00] whatever. So being that you have Kajabi hero status, I'm sure at some point you had to grapple with that decision and I'm just interested, like how did you overcome it? And now that you're on the other side of it, like, how
AttiQuewa Green: are you? Yes. I definitely did grapple with that for a hot minute, actually, because it's like, yeah, I want to serve people.
But just because you're called to serve doesn't mean you're called to be. Come on now.
Henry Tolbert: Listen, say that, like run that back one more time. I need you to say that again. Okay.
AttiQuewa Green: Just because you're called to serve doesn't mean you're called to be broke. So I really got to this point where I really wanted to focus on who I wanted to attract, because I don't have to go back and forth with people who know what they're trying to accomplish, but they don't know how to get there.
So they're looking for that help. Um, you know, I. I often say that for mental health reasons, I am no longer sell people on why they should want to get their finances together. I'm here to help women who are ready to get it done. And it [00:14:00] just got to the point where it's like, okay, there's a place that I want to go for my family.
There's a place that I want to take them. And I can't get there if I'm not charging what I'm worth, or if I am giving everything. I agree because at the end of the day, you know, Kajabi costs money. So I can't just give everything away. Like there's free content. Of course, if people who don't have it in the budget, but then for people who want to go to the next step, it's like, okay, in order for me to serve you properly, you have to, you're going to have to pay me for my.
Toni Collier: That's a really good, this was a really hard topic for me. I have been serving in ministry, had a lot of churches at the beginning of my career, and we experienced a lot of church, hurts, spiritual manipulation, all the things and went on my own healing journey because of it. And when we initially had this question of man, we want to create a really excellent experience.
The tension was how do we fund an excellent, an excellent experience? How do we create something for the greater good? And [00:15:00] after spending a ton of my own personal money investing into it, I realized that there was an insecurity in me that was afraid of being called out on social media, cancel culture.
How can you say you're a pastor or you speak about Jesus and you want to charge her. And we could have a whole podcast, whole session about that and how hypocritical let's just be real about ad how hypocritical we pay for beach, body, plus plexus, drink, pink drink and everybody else. And we don't actually want to pay for the things that will create delay gratification and legacy and generational wealth.
I'm gonna put that on the side. I grappled with a personal insecurity and the truth is as I process through it, it was a scarcity mind. I didn't actually believe that what I had to give was worthy to be charged for. I thought that I needed to go broke for the betterment of others. And this is quite literally what I believe or I'm assuming antique was saying, it's just because I'm called to serve people and to help [00:16:00] people doesn't mean that I'm called to be broke.
And that actually. In order to, to practice what I preach, if we're just going to be real about it and this, this holistic journey of community, of healthy community and mental awareness and pointing people to a better life starts with me saying I have to place some value on myself and actually believe that what I'm putting out there is worthy of an investment from someone.
And, and that was a long journey, but we rounded third base on that bank. And it's, it's been beautiful because with that comes an awareness that I'm not just cheating people out of money, that I can balance this competent humility of I'm going to try my best to charge what's fair, and also be able to create more things for people in the
Henry Tolbert: future.
And that is man. It is so good. Look, I'm just going round a basis since you hadn't already started it. I'll pick up. Tony was saying is I think there are three things for me to help me through this conversation because it was also a real issue and it still is if I'm on it. [00:17:00] Um, but I've decided some things that I've got to live out.
I think the first thing I'll say is I've learned on my journey. People don't value free and as weird as that sounds. Like my cheapest, most low ticket clients are the ones who do the least amount of work and make the most amount of noise. And so, so I figured that out, along the way, I started out trying to help everybody.
And like, I'm gonna just fit your budget. And I'm looking at their social media trying to figure out, oh, they only got this much. And it's like, and I realize that I'm not called to chase every client and every dollar. And if somebody says antique, we'll say that. You're not ready for what I'm trying to bring to the table.
Then I can't help you because truth of the matter is if my product is priced at a certain point, cause I know the value of it and you can't afford it, then that means you are missing a lot of what it would take to even get the most out of what I'm offering you anyway. So, so I'll just, I've just grappled with that.
That, that just what. The second thing I realized is is that to a degree, your pricing is a part of your brand. If you're the best people, no, you're not the cheapest. And if you're the cheapest, people know you're not the best. And so I just [00:18:00] stopped fighting a battle with people to try to prove this and prove that it's like, listen, this is what it is.
Here are the results they speak for themselves and be gone from there. And then a third thing that I think has really helped me is. We're going. We just gone through kind of a shift in our pricing because we do all the subscription model day. And so anything you do with me, we're going to walk together on a journey for now anyway.
And one of the things that I've embraced is I'm going to either be free or expensive. I'm not playing around with the, in between, because there's only one me. Right? I was reading this book. Oh, well, I just finished reading. It was so good. Chill preneur by Denise Thomas, I believe is her last name called Thompson.
And, uh, one of the things she talks about in there, she talks about the story of the building goose and this king who has a ghost who. Discovers is laying golden eggs and the golden eggs make him really, really rich, but like many people, he gets greedy. And so he decides, you know what, I want all the eggs right now.
And so he cuts the goose open to pull out the golden eggs only to realize that there were no more eggs in the group. The goose was the golden egg. And the point that she makes in the book is that [00:19:00] as entrepreneurs, as leaders and we're the golden goose, we're the goose that produces the golden eggs. So we have a responsibility to build the business around us and because I don't want to be stressed out working with 50 million people, I get to be selective about how many people I can handle.
And so what I've chosen to do is the people that I will work with and it's going to be in a way that I can serve them really well. But also help provide the lifestyle that I want. And part of that is I do give back all the time, but I get to choose how I give back and where I give back to people, don't have to, don't get to choose.
And so it's just like, I'm a bi-vocational pastor right now. And one of my, one of the things that I'm doing right now is that I'm preparing to completely give my entire salary or stipend from our church and back to our church for mission. Right. But that's going to be my choice. You know, we're looking at, we're supporting some mission work overseas, but that's.
And so I just freed myself from the pressure of feeling like people have a say in what happens in my life. Like social media gave everybody a microphone, but there's no speaker in my [00:20:00] world. So look, you talk all you want, but they don't work over here. So there you go. And this is some,
Quinton Jason: there's some good stuff.
There's so many things looking at the time. Okay. Let me find some, how can I get to the meat of what I'm trying to get to? Okay. So I'll give you another little soften before. We get into the real real, but, um, I'm on one more entrepreneurial type question is, um, I spoke a lot about self discovery in that last answer.
What was, what would be something that you would tell to the iteration of yourself that just started on this journey?
Henry Tolbert: Like from hero
Quinton Jason: to new you, what would be that
Toni Collier: advice?
AttiQuewa Green: Definitely take everyone's advice with a grain of salt. In the beginning or I'm honestly, I'm just going to be a hundred percent real up until like the middle of last year.
I finally figured out how I wanted to run my business to fit me because everybody who is on social media, you know, post three to five times a day. So you can grow your Instagram so you can get traffic. I'm not doing that in. I'm an introverted person, or I'm going to say [00:21:00] I'm, I'm an ambivert. Okay. I am selective how much I want to give to people as far as my energy and my time, and you know, doing that, which is not who I am.
So I'm like, okay, I need to figure out what platforms fit my personality and what platforms fit my ideal. And now I figured out, oh, it's YouTube because I can batch create content, have an editor, edit out my stuff and I don't have to show up anymore. So it's one of those things is, you know, figure out how you want to run your business.
What's your ideal lifestyle is and mold your business around it. Um, and of course, it's okay to take other people's journey as some sort of a blueprint to get ideas, but you still need to figure out how it works for you. And then also. Just going to throw that extra tidbit out here. You're probably going to be better off with also having a therapist at the same time.
You know, that scarcity mindset, the negative self talk and self sabotage will prevent you from going farther on your business. Because for some [00:22:00] reason you are thinking, oh, I don't deserve this. Or this comes easy to me. Why should I charge for this? I, when it doesn't come easy to other people, I was talking to my.
Sweet. And she let me know that I actually have a bad habit of negative self talking. I didn't realize it. And that's stuff that is stuff that pretty much comes out in your business in so many ways. And you don't even realize it. So molded business in a way that works for you in the ideal lifestyle you're trying to create for yourself.
And then also you need someone who can help you, you know, work through some of that. Self-talk and the traumas and stuff that you've gone through because it affects everything that you do.
Toni Collier: Listen, you speak in my language, we have counselors in our family. We are, we got them on deck for every season, marriage, kids, all the things.
So I love that so much. I think for me, one of the things that is very difficult for me is, is the time investment. You mentioned it. And I kind of got convicted a little bit at secret. Like I do care so [00:23:00] much about people that. Scalability has been my major thing. Our first course was eight months long.
Okay. And it's just like what you're saying here. It was this, this journey and you, you start holding these stories and these people, and you're just like, I'm with you. I'm available for any call. Like I want to do it, but also I had to check myself and I'll use this word, but I had to realize that I didn't have to be the only hero in the story.
And. What that meant for me was I, I'm not the only expert here, you know? And so I really started focusing in, on building a team. And if your business or strategy calls for that, I would definitely say to lean into that. We have seen so much more progress in scalability when we added women to the team, but not only that.
I just didn't have to take up so much space. I didn't have to be the star and the hero in all of this, that actually there were other women with the same passion as me. Who'd walked through the same healing journey as me and may actually be better than me. That could be a part of this. [00:24:00] And it's been really beautiful.
To empower other women to lead out and to use their own stories for healing as guides. And that's been really cool. So I would definitely say if there's a team to be built, build it, if there's the right people that you can put in the right places and the right timing, do it, and just really watch some really cool things happen when you start to empower other people and create really cool legacy.
Henry Tolbert: And I, I would just piggyback on what you bought and say, I would tell myself to really focus on the who and not how you know, I get I'm an analytic thinker. And so many times dreams and visions get killed in the infancy stage because I'm already thinking about how we're going to do it, how we're going to make it happen.
And the question that I've learned to ask now, when I come to an issue is not, how do I do this, but who do I know, or who do I have around me? Who can help me do this? I said, you talk about having your team. We've got a counselor, we've found a counselor, you know, online. Very early on, I've added, you know, a team member for going back to what I do is something.
And you talk about social media. We'll see. Now on my social [00:25:00] media, it's something that's going out six times a day, but the thing is, you know, I went on upwards and, uh, found some. And he said, okay, look, I'm going to record these one video a week, kind of like the Brendan Bouchard model. And I'm going to give it to my team members.
So one person is going to turn it into video clips and other parts is going to turn into text posts that go out twice a day. They're going to search my page and get the best of they're going to get, I'm going to just batch create this content. And so now people are thinking like, oh man, he's going. And it's like, I'm somewhere playing with my kids or something like, I'm not doing that stuff, you know, but I'm thinking about who I'm thinking about it in my health, you know, who can help me eat better and make wise choices.
So I can be in shape who can help me do these things. But I think that's really helped. Every Shiro needs, hero makers, like every single one, Superman needed Lois lane, Batman had Alfred, like whoever you are on your journey, you need people around you who are going to help you do it. You can't do it by yourself.
And I think I get a lot of that from my time as a, as an athlete, as a football player, it doesn't matter how good you are alone. If you don't have 10 other guys who can come alongside of you and help you accomplish your goal when [00:26:00] you can't win championships. And so I would say focus on who and.
Jared Loman: Boy Quintin before you get into the, I know you're ready, ready to get into the meat here.
But like, I just gotta, like, there's been probably at least 10 things that could be like inserted into like this quote book. Like we could probably write a book off of just this episode from the things that you guys have been bringing to the table.
Quinton Jason: Now that we had fun Quintin. Now we got to bring in some real Quinn, right.
People. So we've, um, you know, talked about the entrepreneurial side of things, but in. Second month of the year in black history month to make sure that we take the time to speak on things that may not be as well known. So one of the questions I'm going to pose to you, it's two, but the first is what are some of the hurdles you had to go through to even get where you are given the fact that how I stated earlier, less than 1% of.
The small business, our business owners are African-American. So like what hurts the [00:27:00] robot blacks did you have to
Henry Tolbert: get through
AttiQuewa Green: to get here? I'm just not knowing where to start. Like there's this, there was an idea really starting this journey came from my stubbornness and not being like, like to be told what to do.
It's an idea of, you know, okay, this is what I want to do. I want to help people, but then, you know, figuring out who your niche is, who exactly you're supposed to be helping, how to brand yourself properly. Like those are some major, some major, major hurdles. And then also not having a lot of people in my corner actually believe in what I'm trying to accomplish.
Like my business sat on a shelf for an entire year because someone said, when I started my business, I was. 24. And they're like, you're 24 years old. Who's going to listen to you about finance. And here I am. I'm about to be 29 this year. And I have clients who are three times my age and they're still listening to me just fine.
So it was not having the [00:28:00] proper support system. And then also telling people my vision when they weren't the one who was given the vision. So they're not going to understand it in the first. So those are some major hurdles not knowing where to start and not having like the greatest support system in the beginning.
I
Toni Collier: think it was really difficult. It's kind of, it's kind of what you said in secret. Like I'm in the mental health space as an African-American woman. One of my own family, my mom, dad, aunts, uncles don't necessarily believe it or believe in it. And I'm also in the ministry space, which has honestly quite honestly heard a lot of people in this space.
Uh, including myself. And so I'm in this industry where it's an uphill battle for my culture. And I remember having one of our first course groups and it was really white and there is nothing wrong with that at all, because, you know, we attract who we attract and it just kind of happened that way. There was no market.
There was no in digital marketing. [00:29:00] It made me very sorrowful. And I had to ask myself, like, what is it that I can do to ensure that I'm going above and beyond to include an entire people group in my own culture who maybe has a tougher time with accepting these and understanding this, what can I do to, to educate more than just making assumptions if we're just going to be.
And that was hard. I had to check myself, I had to check my surroundings. I had to check my friends. I had to check who I was leaving behind unintentionally, but it still happened. And that was tough. And I, and that meant more marketing, more intentionality, more of an investment, more of having conversations of explaining what's going on and how do we get past this and how do we do this really well?
And, um, it was tough. And it wasn't cute at all, but, um, it's been beautiful to see our community flourish in this space and I'm just, I'm excited for it to just keep growing.
Henry Tolbert: Yeah. I have some very similar experience, you know, being a church comes in African-American church consultant. Uh, before I started, I went searching for other [00:30:00] firms and I couldn't find.
I couldn't find, I could find confirms that were, you know, lit by white Americans, that employee African-Americans, but I couldn't find one that was specifically for churches of people who look like me. And that's really where my heart was, you know, because I've worked in churches of all colors and flavors, and I've experienced all this stuff that Tony is talking about and all those things.
And so I really want it to make a difference in my community. And one of the challenges was I knew it'd be a lot easier to go on staff with another. Well, I already had the reads and already had the budget and go there versus starting my own. And he said, we started decided to start our own. And so we have that barrier and just like Tony said, a part of that barrier is it feels like you have to, in some ways you have to work so much harder just to bring your clientele up to speed, but just even to show.
That you're worthy of what you're sharing and what you're teaching that, Hey, look, this is where it is. And for me, it's unique, you know, I have, you know, I've been, I've got two post-grad degrees, my personal actually in counseling. [00:31:00] So I really feel where Tony is going, because that was a big thing for us. I started off my life and I'd do a marriage.
Coaching was a huge part of what we were doing, trying to just really heal black marriages and just not just heal them, but build them a lot of premarital stuff. But as we move into leaders, it's so hard because not only am I an African-American leading a business, but I'm trying to. Graphic of African-Americans who are overworked, underpaid over traumatized and under counseled.
And so the hard part is if I really want to help them, I can't just be a business owner. When I do deal with, I've got to care about their, their marriages. I was sitting with a couple two who had lead matured. And they're like, look, we need to turn this thing around. It's been 10 years. We're really struggling.
So and so, and the wife looks at me and she goes, Hey, listen, maybe you can't help us. I don't think our marriage is going to make it right. And that's the kind of stuff. Cause when you think about the church in the African-American community, traditionally, the post. You know, you go back to, you know, silver rights, what the pastor's, everything, you're the voice.
You're the activists, you're the counselor. You're, you're the marriage coach. [00:32:00] You're the you're everything. Right? And so there are some pockets in our communities where that's still the case. And so now I'm trying to minister to a leader to get him up before I can even say, okay, now let's move the people forward.
And so you really do have to be equipped to do, as scripture says, be all things to all men, because you just never know what each situation is going to call it for you. And that's why I really have my battle between. Cheerleader philanthropists and business owner is that those three things crossover in ways that you can't always predict, but that's a unique experience that we have is that we're dealing with people who have access to fewer resources.
In some cases, we become the resource. And so we just have to figure out how to navigate that and help where we can. I
Quinton Jason: got two more questions for y'all. The last one is just going to let y'all talk, you know, giving y'all the space. I'm just setting it up. Not sure how I want to word it. That I want to express.
So as most black Americans feel in the minority space, there's this added pressure. It's like, you have the regular thing, but then there's the added pressure and it's different things to different people. So just [00:33:00] giving y'all the floor to speak to what that pressure means to you. Because for me, that pressure is making sure that my family, right.
So I just want to share that, uh, open the floor with y'all like, what does. Is there a pressure associated with being a black Kajabi hero and how do you work with it? How do you deal with it? Like what advice do you have for those who may be struggling with the same
AttiQuewa Green: thing? Because, you know, my husband has been like my biggest support system, um, on this journey, even when.
Or frustrating. And so there's a pressure to make sure that I've fully succeed here. And then we're also in a process of, you know, um, fostering a teenage girl. So there's ma making sure that I succeed here because I want to make sure that I'm home with her as she has a lot. And she's going to need that extra, extra attention.
You know, the added pressure of, I can't fail. It's one I've been in, I've been [00:34:00] an overachiever all of my life and having something that means so much to not only you, but everyone else that touches you, that's surrounding you. And that's your supposed to affect in one way, shape or form. You can't let it do anything less than succeed because there's so much riding on it.
So there is that pressure. Yeah. Okay. Yes. You want to achieve this because this is something that you set your mind to, but you also want to achieve it because you want to make sure that your family is good. You want to make sure that the children that you're going to bring into this house one day are going to be good.
And you want to make sure that your parents or siblings don't have to want for anything when they get old. And they can't, if they can't do anything for themselves. So it's a lot, it's a lot just to making sure that everyone is good. And then also making sure that you are maintaining your mental stability at the same time.
Male. What an
Toni Collier: interesting question. I think pressure for me has just honestly been a balance of gratitude and consistency as well as not allowing it to just overwhelm me. I think for, I have always kind of [00:35:00] said this. I'm like, oh, I worked so well under pressure. I worked so well under pressure and I think.
Some strength to that. And some grit that's built in that, but there's also a little bit of maturity that comes with, well, everything you don't have to be always under pressure. Okay. Um, you know, you don't have to be chasing after the pressure actually can come easy for you. And I think that comes from, you know, WIC and food stamps.
I'm trying to feed a newborn and, and all that good stuff. It just comes from the struggle. But I think it goes back to our original point that there's space for us to thrive that it's not always about surviving know that just because something is pressure-filled doesn't mean it's good. And just because it's not, doesn't have pressure doesn't mean it's good.
And so I just, I found myself just balancing that while I'm so grateful that when I get a. Emails to answer Cod. I'm so grateful that people are actually interested in what I have to say. And at the same time, I'm grateful that I can break up with balance and mirror priorities and prioritize my mental health and my, my family, uh, because of the pressure that I have endured.
And now the piece that I get to [00:36:00] create in that as well.
Henry Tolbert: Yeah. I agree. I think I'm to use a biblical term, I feel called to be an apostolic leader. Right. Which means. I am the one who was called to walk through the jungle with a machete, clearing a path for other people to follow and, you know, and that's, and over the years, and over time, the way I see that has changed so much, you know, it used to be a thing that was really heavy and, you know, really heavy hearted and like a team.
You know, my wife helps me a lot with it. She's my biggest cheerleader. She's always pointing out those moments that I would miss because I'm moved from one Malkin top to another. Like if I get to the top of a mountain and I'm all I see is the bottom of the next one. And she's constantly reminding me of these peaks that we're hitting.
And, and I just think about, um, this great quote, you know, from the. The gospel, according to Spiderman book, number one, I'll go B and C it with great power comes great responsibility. And so it's like, you know, in embracing that we'd get a chance to kinda, kinda carry that and go with it. Now, the one place where I think [00:37:00] there is some pressure is that in our communities, we are still unique enough that we are unicorns to many other people that we're called to.
And when they, when you've never seen a unicorn, you don't know how to. Right now you approach it like a horse. Did you approach it? Like it's something different, right? Like what, like what do you do? And so it feels like sometimes you have to spend so much time explaining who you are, why you are, how you got here, why you deserve to be here and all those other things.
And I think, again, a way of just kind of wrestling with that pressure is just being really clear about what you serve. You want me to come in earlier? You know, our strategy when it comes to finances now is to be free or to be expensive. And, and what I mean by that is we give away a ton of great content for free.
Like, I give away a lot of the best stuff I give away the what and the why's all week, every day, I give you everything I can give you. If you just need somebody to help you think you don't need to call me for that. Just go on my page, go on my blog and listen to the podcast, whatever it is. Right. But it's only when you're ready to come to the other side that I can help you.
And so I think that's a part of how relieve [00:38:00] that pressure. I'll use those free mediums as a chance to say, Hey, I'm giving away to people, something they can't get anywhere else. Nobody else is giving you stuff. This contextualize for your context every day. And it's like, that's the only way I don't say, Hey, look, I'm giving, I'm giving.
I'm pouring out. I'm getting this stuff out of my brain. So I don't feel full of ideas and full of stuff. And then as people come along to work together and then I get a chance to say, okay, now let's start really making a difference in the lives of. So, so that's been helpful for me, that stuff. All
Quinton Jason: right.
Wait, this is going to be my last official question for this wonderful group of, cause y'all got me so inspired. You
Henry Tolbert: have no, I want to do this again. Like I'm like, I got a podcast we can come on later and we can just kind of hang out, hang out or so, cause this was encouraged. Cool.
Quinton Jason: Cool. Last one. Let me give you a layer in closing.
What is something that you are really passionate about that you just want to communicate to the world?
Music: I am
AttiQuewa Green: passionate about. Women being able to build wealth where they are, whether they are currently broken, whether they are not making the money that they want to make, whether [00:39:00] they, um, don't have X amount of dollars in their bank account, you can literally change your life right now with what you have and then tweak and scale as you continue.
Everybody has these false rules of what you're supposed to do with your money, but money is it can, money can be. So many different ways and to lock yourself into somebody else's finite version of what money is, is just sabotaging yourself. So I am really passionate about people being able to build wealth where they are, and then tweak and scale as they continue.
And
Toni Collier: speaking of broken women. Um, I think that one thing that. I am trying my best to communicate is that your brokenness doesn't discount you that, I mean, I have seen the bottom of the fit a few times and, um, God still says yes, and I also am really just passionate about balancing this idea that. You know, God wants us to thrive, but also knowing that it does take work, that we're not just doing scriptures on things, but we are coupling it with strategy and with [00:40:00] intentionality and with community and with actual tools that can help you live a life that's transformed and hopeful and hopefully experience, you know, really beautiful moments of mountaintops hope.
Henry Tolbert: Absolutely man. I would just encourage every person to see that their life exists for a reason that none of us are an accident. No matter how we got here, no matter where we are. And there is a unique contribution that we can make to the world. And I think we have a responsibility to discover with it.
And to step into it as best we can. And if I had to summarize it, I'd say three really quick things about how we get there. I think number one, it, part of it is mindset is, uh, uh, whether you believe you can't believe you can't you're right. You know, because so much authority is just in how you see things.
I think this is to use a biblical word, Metro. It was a Greek word that they use for measure or a Mel. And, and it's just realizing that we all have. Measures of what we do. You know, I value a kindergarten teacher as much as I value a college professor because they're both educators, they're educating different people at different levels, but that's just different.
Metro [00:41:00] lines have the same color and don't waste time comparing your measure to somebody else's measure. Uh, because I've seen so many people who did a whole lot. Very little and people who would be very little with a whole lot. And I think the lesson is your map is just figuring out where you are in the journey.
If you can be honest with yourself about where you are, I believe you start the journey to discovering how do I get where I'm going next. If you can't pinpoint where you are on the map, it's really hard to tell if you're being successful on your trip. And so you need to understand where you are so you can map out where you're going, but it all pushes us to understand that there's a purpose for your life.
And, uh, it's incumbent upon you to discover it and to do everything you can to die in. I don't go to the grave with all that purpose inside of you. Take what?
Quinton Jason: Tony Henry. This was all that I gotta say. I love every
Henry Tolbert: second ladies on fire, man. Like I'm mad. I'm mad. I hadn't heard about John. Like, I'm seeing like, I'm gonna go stalk all y'all pages.
So get ready. I'm going to be coming in those stuff. That's like two years old. So just like I'm coming in and I'm telling you right now, I'm coming. So [00:42:00] get ready.
Jared Loman: Totally amazing. Like this is, I almost got to take another step and level back into like our audience's perspective. And you can just observe this from a, even like a distance in a way.
And this was beyond phenomenal. Like I wish we could do this every week. I don't know if it's just this awesome group of people or if it's the format or what it is, but thank you all. Uh, Quintin. Thank you. Stepping in and taking some time out to just help facilitate this conversation, which was incredible for our listeners.
This is all we have for you this week, but make sure you tune in. We'll have a sequel coming up on a future episode very soon. And if you haven't listened to them yet, make sure to listen to Tony and Henry's episodes as well. Um, so once again, huge, thank you to shout out. I often. Well, we'll end this by calling out and asking for you to go leave us a review.
But this time I'm going to go to each of these guys as websites, go to their websites and leave them a review. Um, tell them how much you appreciated this content, because this was awesome. So thank you once again to everyone for joining us today, really, really appreciate you. Well with that [00:43:00] said, we will.
I see everyone next time on the Kajabi edge podcast.[00:44:00]
