Getting to the Money, Love and Success with Ashley Fox

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Keep It Positive Sweety is available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search keep It Positive Sweety. That's Sweety with an Ie to listen. Hello, and welcome to this episode of Keep It Positive Sweety. I'm Christopher Nate Haslet and as you can tell, I am not at home. I am taking over Los Angeles, catching up with some of my favorite people, straight from thirteen Loon right here in Los Angeles. It is owned by Niicao Graco and ninety percent of the products sold here are bipod founded. Thank you so much, thirteen Loon. Today we have Ashley Fox. Ashley Fox a Philadelphia native who possesses a competitive drive and an unwavering commitment to success. Her journey began at Howard University's School of Business, where she secured internships annually, including prestigious roles at Johnson and Johnson and leading Wall Street investment banks. Graduating Magnam cum Latti, Ashley achieved a significant milestone as the first college graduate in her family. She embarked on professional path at JP morgan Chase, specializing in asset management within the private bank. There, she skillfully managed assets for high net worth individuals. Driven by her passion for financial education, Ashley eventually departed from her lucrative Wall Street career to empower others through financial literacy, with a particular focus on underserved populations.

00:01:30
Speaker 2: Hey guys, on.

00:01:31
Speaker 1: This episode of Keep It Positive, Sweety, I have with me none other than Ashley Fox. Ashley, thank you so much for just stopping by.

00:01:39
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

00:01:40
Speaker 1: Yes, we're in LA and we both live in Atlanta. But since she flew, she was like, I'm coming.

00:01:45
Speaker 2: Yes, I appreciate that. Yes, I'm excited to have you.

00:01:48
Speaker 1: And I have a foundation in one of the pillars is financial literacy. So when your team hit me and I was like, oh, yeah, we definitely need to have her on because I know I can learn some things, but I also want to make sure that our community learns some things as well.

00:02:00
Speaker 2: Yes, so tell us a little bit about you.

00:02:02
Speaker 3: So worn and raised in Philadelphia, two pair of household I'm always wanted to well, I always like math and I liked the business, so I figured I major in finance, but I always wanted to work on Wall Street. I wanted to be a profound African American woman. On Wall Street. And so I went to Howard University, four internships, graduate with honors, Like, did everything I could to be on Wall Street. Graduated, I'm landing my dream career working in one of the biggest banks in the world, managing money for individuals that I had at least twenty five million dollars. Wow, So I saw everything. Yeah, I saw from where they were shopping, where they were traveling. I was in their bank account. I saw everything. But when I'm gonna go home to Philly, people thought I was rich. And so I'm making six figures. I'm in my early twenties. But I felt like, for something we're using every day in our life, why are we not taught about it in our school system. We're not talking about it at dinner table, and you shouldn't have to major in finance work on Wall Street to really get exposed to this. Yeah, So about maybe nine months in, I realized I wanted to do something more. I didn't know what. So I say there for a while and realized that I deserved to be the client. And when I did the math. When I did the math, like if I say for ten years, I would not have been on track to be like our clients. And one of the biggest things I learned was that wealthy people either invested in their own ideas or somebody else's idea. And so I felt like, why not teach this to the world. Let me become the translator that translated the Wall Street knowledge for the everyday person. Did not know how, just knew why, and knew that I was going to be the woman to do it. So I left July twelfth, twenty thirteen, with no idea. I had thirty thousand dollars. I thought I was rich. I was never gonna get a job, I was never gonna wear a suit, ended up getting kicked out my apartment, maxiw credit cards and negative bank accounts. I think we have this preconceived perception of just entrepreneurship, and I thought money came in every two weeks like it did at work. So I lost everything back to Philly, and I created this word called amplify, which is the word and power and modify merge together. Because when I thought about what I wanted to give to the world, it wasn't about money. It was about shifting theMIND sets in the hearts of people so that they feel like they deserve to be that Wall Street client. So that's so, that's good. Oh yeah, so, but I made up the word. Didn't make any money though, and so I was a financial advisor for a while, targeting lot of moderate income people and really just figuring it out. In twenty and sixteen, I got unhappy again. By this time, I built a financial advisory business, moved out my parents' house. But I was serving individuals and I wanted to serve the world, and when you're an advisor, you can only talk to so many people. So I ended up letting go my financial advisory business and I started to teach the school system for free because I felt like, you know, I'm dealing with adults, and adults you can't change. They have to want to grow financial, they have to want to change. But a child, I wanted to prevent them from making the same mistakes that I did with money. Yes, so we're teaching the school system. Twenty seventeen was the first year Emplify I made any money. So I made up the word years before, but in twenty seventeen we made our first We had our first contract with school district in Philadelphia were in twenty six different public schools, so I'm traveling all over teaching middle school students, high school students how to invest, the basics to financial literacy. And I think everything kind of took off from their now twenty twenty hit. So in twenty twenty hit, schools didn't know how to operate. And the beauty of that is the market crash. And I was on Wall Street after the market crash. So in two thousand and eight, I was in college, so I watched the market tank, but I also saw on Wall Street how people made money as a result of the two thousand and eight crash, and so I said, I'm not missing a market crash because I know what comes from a crash. Eventually the market goes back up. So I brought the Internet on me with that journey, and we launched what is known today is our Wealth withst Community Act, which is the tech arm to what we do. So this allowed me to scale our education and now we have thousands of people from all over the world, over twenty two countries, and we're like the Netflix of finance, and so adults have access to financial tools and resources from investing, retirement planning, passing down your wealth, dead, all types of resources. And I'm essentially becoming the company that I used to work for before the everyday person. So I would say I always wanted to be a teacher. Yeah, and I always liked math and business, and so I think getting into finance was something that I wanted. But I really wanted to be a teacher. And I really love psychology, and I think in order for Emplify to really serve the audience that we serve, it's not just about teaching you how to buy a science. It's helping you just understand you deserve the mindset. And so I spend more time loving on the people that we serve, getting into their hearts and getting into their minds that show them pain. It doesn't matter what you look like. Wealth doesn't have a color. Therefore it looks like all of us. Let me show you what you can do, how you can do it, and let me be by your side.

00:06:39
Speaker 2: To get it done. I love that. Yeah, Oh my goodness.

00:06:41
Speaker 1: One thing that we always focus on here in the kIPS community is the journey.

00:06:46
Speaker 2: And you a lot of people.

00:06:48
Speaker 1: I actually said this in your bio, but you graduated magnum cum Latti from Howard University. But I said, yeah, Howard University but then you said you got a job, and then you lost your apartment, got kicked out in debt and everything. A lot of times people will look at you now and be like, she's had it all together all her life. What was that moment like where you had.

00:07:10
Speaker 2: To go back home to Philadelphia?

00:07:12
Speaker 3: I think, alright, so this is pre therapy actually to talk about. It was driven by her accolades, having the grades, having Like I was an athlete, I had to be number one. I had to when I first got my first beat at hour Wow. So having the grades got the prestigious job high. I'm Ashley Fox, like you know, like I was that girl, and I think when I lost everything, it was one of the best things that happened to me. One It allowed me to connect with the audience that I served. And so I grew up in a middle class family. I was making more money than both my parents by the time I graduated from college. But I didn't struggle growing up. We were okay, right. It wasn't until I lost everything that I could understand the doubt, the fear, the shame, the guilt that comes with how much we identify with things and how money is a mere you know, identifier of who you are, and so it broke me. But the one difference that I think kind of helped me together was that I was around billionaires every day. So my level of what was possible was what I saw exposure. Yeah, like I had already traveled the world, I was making money. I was investing what I saw a billionaire do. I did on a smaller scale, so you could not tell me I wasn't on track to become a billionaire. I just had a hiccup in a room, you know. So I think it The best thing also about is that because I lost everything, I had to figure out who actually was, who was actually when she didn't work on Wall Street? Who was actually when she had no money, negative bank accounts, memorizing bill collectors numbers, and not answering the phone because I couldn't pay them, you know. So when you have that behind you, it forces you to come out. Now, granted, nobody knew I was getting kicked out all I saw people. I will always tell you my story after I get through it, because if I don't have the answer to figure it out, to give you clarity, I can't help you why I don't get kicked out nobody knew get kicked out. But I think in that moment, I cried a lot, I drank a lot of wine, and I was just really broken on it inside, and so like I had them, you know, by this time, even as a financial advisor, I moved out my parents' house, bought the bends, like, got that place, and but I wasn't happy. And so I think Wall Street took. Leaving Wall Street, losing everything removed it identifier that I'm something more than just my accolades and my resume. And I think as a financial advisor, I learned more about success was no longer identified either because I could I had a whole mask on like I was. I mastered the art of not crying. I mastered the art of just being successful, and like I was always successful, I was, That's just.

00:09:46
Speaker 2: How I'm wired.

00:09:47
Speaker 3: But being on Wall Street took. Leaving Wall Street and losing everything took a lot out of me. But also as a financial advisor, because even when I left my financial advisory business to go teach kids, I lost fifty percent of my revenue. But I also was I'm really focused, Like I've learned this about me, I follow my heart, so if it fuels right, then.

00:10:07
Speaker 2: I do it.

00:10:07
Speaker 3: I don't operate aufhal logic, something inside of me, my higher self, God, however you want to describe it. I follow that process. And I think Wall Street was chasing the money, chasing the accolades, and I left to do what felt right. I had no idea how, but I knew it was going to work out. So it was a rough time. But I now don't hide behind that pain. I kind of share that story.

00:10:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that, and I feel that when we do share those stories once, like you said, once we've made it through and we have the answers to help other people make it through those same situations, it shows people that they're not alone, you know, because a lot of people feel like failures and they feel like nobody else goes through that, you.

00:10:45
Speaker 2: Know, because people don't talk about it, you know.

00:10:47
Speaker 1: So I love when people can be transparent about their shortcomings.

00:10:51
Speaker 2: You know.

00:10:51
Speaker 1: In life, you talked about your childhood, and one thing that I saw and I think is super dynamic about you, is that you are a first generation college graduate in your family. Do you feel like that had a lot to do with your drive and how competitive.

00:11:06
Speaker 2: You were growing up?

00:11:08
Speaker 3: So, yeah, I think it's a culmination. I think I've been I started therapy in twenty seventeen, so like I have two executive coaches, a therapist, a spiritual advisor. I spend a lot of money on the development of ash year. I think it's a culmination, so being a first person, even that the desire to go to college be the best. I think my father was very rough, and so as a girl, I yearned for love. I yearned for I'm proud of you. But my dad was rough, so he was a provider. And so I think the success in me then not now, and the desire to overachieve was to be seen. And so you have the pressure of being I'm also the oldest of three, so I'm being the first born. But I want to succeed. I want to do exactly what my father that I want to be successful, not necessary what he did because he worked in law enforcement, but I wanted to be successful. I wanted to work hard. I wanted my dad at that time was the richest person I knew up until Wall Street. I wanted to be like my dad, you know, like I wanted to be successful. So I think it's a culmination of traumas of you know, wanting to be heard, wanting to be loved, wanting to be seen, and also the pressure that comes with being the oldest, being that person in your family. But I think more of it came from just being an overachiever, wanting to know, hey, you know, hey, will I'm here, Can you love me? And just doing I think, and I learned that through therapy, and so now I don't operate with that. I still have pieces of that in me, but it doesn't lead my decision making.

00:12:40
Speaker 2: That's so good. That's so good.

00:12:42
Speaker 1: You talked about how your father was rough and you just wanted to be seen and loved.

00:12:47
Speaker 2: Did that translate in your romance relationship? Absolute? Girls, we deal with that.

00:12:52
Speaker 1: I know for me, even like starting therapy, I was like, oh my goodness, no wonder, I'm not in a relationship, you know, and you start to unpack all these things.

00:13:01
Speaker 2: How did that effect?

00:13:03
Speaker 3: Okay, So all of my so one up until I would say I'm thirty five now up in all of my twenties, I never put myself in a relationship. There was always somebody close to me, but I never let you close to me. And for me, I just was okay with that, you know, Like I always I used to have these feelings of like I'm gonna just be the successful, rich girl and.

00:13:25
Speaker 2: I'm like gonna be like Oprah.

00:13:28
Speaker 3: I didn't even think I'm gonna have a statna. I was. I was just going to be successful and someone was going to be there because someone was always in my life, even if I loved that person, they were always there and so so okay. So as I started going to Therapyianscwouse I was seventeen, a lot of stuff started to come up, a lot of and so a lot of anger towards my parents' experiences. I started to remember things, and towards the end of my twenties, I noticed that every I guess relationship you want to call it, indie with the same feeling that I would have with my father that I'm not love I'm not seeing your emotionless. But I also realized that they were a mirror of me. I was emotionless. I wouldn't let you in, you know, like, so once that happened, it was like, I don't want to live my thirties like this because it's not them, it's me. And all the guys were just like my dad, all of them, all of them, and so I noticed the pattern and it was like, I don't want to live my thirties like this because I realized I didn't let you love me because I didn't love myself. I didn't think I was worthy of love. So I pushed you away. I'd rather push you away than you come close and don't love what you see.

00:14:40
Speaker 2: We do that.

00:14:41
Speaker 3: So thirty hit travel travel the South America for thirty days for my thirtieth birthday. I traveled for the first time by myself. But once I noticed the pattern, it was like, Okay, I need to focus on loving me. I would do things like go out every Friday or all throughout the weekend because I didn't want to be alone. I just would go out. And so, like I learned how much I did not love Ashley, and so it was like, okay, this is but I'm seeing how I'm creating this in my life. I don't love Ashley. Therefore it always ends as if you don't love Ashley or I'll push you away, and it's that I don't want that. So I kind of just went on this, let's love Ashley. What does Ashley like? What does Ashley want who is Ashley? I started to write to my inner child. I was meditating, doing my sessions with my spiritual advisor every single week. I'm still going to therapy, and I learned how to figure out, well, who do you want? Do you know? Like who do you want to be? And who do you want in a relationship? So boom, I would say, I remember when it was, but a little after that year and a half, it was like, I just want to love one Ashley. I got into relationship. I felt the discomfort of love because at the time this person was loved me like and it was someone I knew for a while. But here's the thing. I got into this relationship and this person was everything my dad wasn't. So I realized how I created cause I used to have this like saying in the mirror of like the type of guy that I want out like I am a partner to a man. I would just say all the things that I wanted bec of all you know from my experience. Yes, and that relationship ended up not working out. But I realized all the things I loved about my dad, all the things my father could not be, yeah, and all the things that he was and it's like, Okay, how do I I want that? Yes, but I saw how I got the last relationship, cause I'm only in a couple of relationships in my whole life, and I saw how I got that relationship. It was like, Okay, let me rephrase what I'm saying to myself in the mirror to get the guy that had you know, it's a balance between the emotional piece but also the firm and the protective piece. And then that's how I kind of got connected to well, I won't say I put myself in a space to align with the partner I have now wow, And so I think, but I think the p the partners that I had in my life throughout the duration of my life loved me how I loved me, like they treated me how I treated me. And so when I got really good at loving Ashley, MM, it was an expectation that you need to love period. Yeah, but I can see how it was always like that. So I think, I think just period, just knowing who you are and the root of what has created who you are and the experiences you've had, you then can have the power to write your story. Now, I unlearned a lot to then relearn. But now it's not my parents' story, it's not society story, it's Ashley's. And I'm able to write that. And to this day, I'm still writing my story because catching things in business and just even in relationships, it's like things will pop up. It's like, okay, Ashley, you're safe. I love you. It's okay, he loves you like you know. So I got really gentle with Ashley.

00:17:42
Speaker 1: I love it because I feel like as successful women, it's one it's hard to find love, and then when we don't love ourselves, it is like you put this guard up and then until you realize, wait a minute, it's me.

00:17:53
Speaker 2: And when I started therapy, I was like, oh, it's you, girl.

00:17:57
Speaker 3: We need to fix all of this.

00:17:58
Speaker 2: And you'll see a change.

00:18:00
Speaker 1: And I remember I started praying, like God, I want somebody to share this life with, like I'm ready, and then God would send me somebody.

00:18:06
Speaker 2: I'm like Lord, this and I was like, maybe I need to be.

00:18:10
Speaker 1: More specific because you gave me someone that was kind and someone that was gentle, but I need to answer.

00:18:16
Speaker 3: You learn more about you. And I also think too, everybody comes for a reason in your life, you know, like I learned that the previous relationship. It let me know that I'm damn good at being a relationship for somebody who wasn't in one for years. I'm good at I'm good enough to love me and you, But it's hard to be in a relationship with somebody when they don't love themselves. But I also learned a lot just from the experiences it didn't, you know, regardless of how it ended ended up, I learned a lot and I realized like it prepared me for this next version of Ashley, because that relationship could not have worked with the version of Ashley I am today, but it did serve that version of Ashley then. So I'm appreciative of every relationship, every experience, every person in my life because I always ask myself, you know, why is this happening? You know what is it supposed to teach me? I don't always catch it in that moment, but when I dig a little deeper, like hey, my external word is a reflection what's going on the inside. If I dig deep on the inside, it'll explain what's going on the outside. If I want to change the outside, that I got to change the inside. And so I think I started to hold up a mirror a little bit more was never, hey, you're a bad person. How can I be better for Ashley? And what does Ashley deserve? And I think I didn't always know what I deserved. I didn't always know what I wanted. I could tell you what I didn't want, but why put out what you don't want. Let's talk about what you do want, what you do deserve. So I think I started to treat myself a little bit different and I treated myself as if little ash Like little Ashley, what do you need? You know? Like, let mean, before I go ask a guy to be that for me, let me take care of you, let me support you, let me hug you, let me love you. And now in a relationship, and that's exactly how my partner treats me exactly. And I didn't have to teach him that this is how he's wired. And I think but it took some growing within me to get there.

00:20:03
Speaker 2: So that's amazing.

00:20:04
Speaker 1: I love that you also talked about how at the dinner table we don't talk about getting back on the financial literacy part. We don't talk in our homes about finances, and we literally have to get out of our own and fall in our face.

00:20:17
Speaker 2: That was my truth.

00:20:18
Speaker 1: You know, my father was both my parents worked very hard, both college educated, and they taught me if you don't have it, you don't need it.

00:20:27
Speaker 2: So like I didn't even get.

00:20:28
Speaker 1: A credit card until I was in my thirties, Like I didn't know the importance of building credit thirties.

00:20:35
Speaker 3: Ye yess, that's a good thing. Some people get it too.

00:20:37
Speaker 1: So yeah, see like in college, like get you don't want no credit card dead. So they were like that was embedded in my head at a very young age. But then when I moved to DC out of college, I didn't have it was just if I don't have it, don't spend it. But then also I didn't have any money management skills, so I was still trying to live like my mom and dad could how I could live under their roof, but not thinking it's a two two income house and I'm trying to live off the way they live.

00:21:03
Speaker 2: In Washington, DC that we know how.

00:21:06
Speaker 1: So I soon found out, girl, you're living way above your means. But what are some tools that you can get to our black families that they can have conversations with their kids because you have implified where it's you're in schools and you're teaching children about financial literacy. But also a lot of this starts at home. What are some conversations that they can kickstart at the dinner tail or just in normal conversation with their kids.

00:21:29
Speaker 3: I think as an adult, the first thing you have to understand is who you are, what you do, and what you say. Your child carries that. So how many times we told ourselves we can't afford that? Chances are you've probably heard that a lot growing up. So I think it's separating how you feel about money and saying with my child, especially if they're young. I can create a new narrative now because I learned so much through my mistakes, I can become the person that I wish I had as a child growing up. So first thing I think we need to do regardless like I have a niece, I'm not a mommy. I have a niece. The moment she got a Social Security number, I opened her a brokerage account. And that's the account you used to start investing in a stock market. Granted I worked on Wall Street. I saw how their kids, kids' kids were set up. In my mind, no generation after Ashley Fox and this Fox family is going to have to take out student loans, it's going to get kicked out of their apartment to start their business. It's going to live off of a credit card to try to figure out how to build her business. So I thought about all the mistakes that I made for Ashley and what I wish my parents knew because they did phenomena, They did what they could. But what if I could be that parent for Ashley? Now? What if I can do that for us my niece now? So one getting a brokerage account because even if you're setting aside ten dollars a month, think about the moment you were born. Yes, if somebody set aside ten dollars a month and invested it, what it could have been by the time you went to college. But when you got your first car, when you went on a prime, or when you got your first house, Like we train ourselves to think because we've made so many mistakes. We talk our us out our own greatness, and we think that start as small it's something that's embarrassing. And always tell people be more embarrassed that you didn't start at all, and really thinking about what can I start with? Because you can't. You can't build a mansion unless you lay the first brick. Let's lay the first brick and keep building because in the next five, ten, fifteen, twenty years, life will be totally different if you started today. So I think it's stop talking ourselves out of what we could not do or did not do, and let's talk about what we can do. Can you invest with five dollars, You can open a council Fidelity or Charles Schwab and buy pieces of stocks. Now you can buy a stock for ten dollars. Ten dollars your way to your next million. But you gotta believe you can get to that next million. And I think that's where we doubt ourselves because of past experiences versus let's let go of that story. Let's let go of who you used to be. Let's talk about who you're gonna be. Call you have that pen, you have that paper, What is that next chapter of your financial life, of your child's financial life, and do it with your child. That's the other thing I would say too. You have the parents who who don't want invest at all, the parents who set money or invest for their kids. But then you had a parent who doesn't with their kids. What if we're having a conversation about stocks together. What if I'm showing you how to invest and we're doing it together. What if you're taking a portion of the money that your child gets for their birthday, for Christmas, for whenever, and saying, hey, you can spend some, We're gonna save some. You might give some away, you know, foundation or tithe and also invest. We don't want you to have to financially struggle because you know mommy and Daddy did, or in this case t t as my niece. You don't have to go through. You don't have to go through what I went through. Let me do what I wanted someone to do for me now and for me grant again. I worked on Wall Street, so I saw what wealthy people do, and I think that's why Emplify was created. Let me take you don't have to be on Wall Street to get exposed to what I saw. You have, Ashley, you have amplified, and let me take that and translated in the language. Because they started with one hundred million, I started with one hundred dollars and over the years I built my portfolio. I was able to start my company. If that thirty thousand I had when I quit, it wasn't in the same as account. It was in my investments. I had to sell my investments to make sure I survived. Years later, I lived in Paris off of my stocks. I had a whole, eat, prey love trip, but my stocks got me through my trip as I figured life out. So and So's it's really about letting these companies work for you because they're making money because you're because you exist. Yes, so challenge challenging your thought process to say, Okay, I made mistakes, but I can do this. Ashley said I could do this. Eifi said I can do this, and she's doing it with me. And I'm not embarrassed to start small because I know if I keep focused and I keep going, I can put anything, do anything up on my mind too.

00:25:37
Speaker 2: That is incredible. My brain is already on way.

00:25:41
Speaker 1: Is it my foundation?

00:25:42
Speaker 2: And I can collaborate because yes, no, I'm like, oh this is okay.

00:25:46
Speaker 1: Because even though I would love to get a constation with you and just like talk off books about some things and pay you, I pay people. It's supposed to be like you're my free So man, it's gonna cost you.

00:26:01
Speaker 2: But now that's incredible. I feel like in our community.

00:26:05
Speaker 1: Especially because I'm from a very small town, and in our community, we are not taught anything about any type of money management or I know, we used to have a.

00:26:14
Speaker 2: What do they call it?

00:26:15
Speaker 1: It was some type of commerce class where.

00:26:17
Speaker 2: We learned about taxes and welfare.

00:26:20
Speaker 3: That's better than nothing, but we're not taught how to grow, protect and preserve our wealth.

00:26:26
Speaker 1: I didn't learn that until I started making real money. Then I was hiring people and they're like, well, this is where you used to be putting your MinC.

00:26:31
Speaker 2: I didn't know about a sep ira.

00:26:34
Speaker 3: But you you have no reason to because if you think about how the school system is designed, it's not It works exactly how the system was supposed to work. I just think now we live in a different day and age, we have to let go of who we used to be in this new world, Like, I mean, you can make money on the internet now, there's so many ways, but it's so much again shame, lack of belief, doubt, fear or worry, and I understand it's all justified, but that's all we're focusing on. We're gonna get the exact same thing that's always gotten so we have to change the story, change our actions, change our thought process to create a different outcome. And I and that is more internal than taking a.

00:27:13
Speaker 1: No for sure, for sure, I wanna talk about emplify and how people can get like is it an app or is it?

00:27:21
Speaker 3: So?

00:27:21
Speaker 2: How do people get onto?

00:27:22
Speaker 1: Cause I know this can be a worldwide thing if it's on their phone. Tell people how they can get on it and what they can learn and tap in with you.

00:27:29
Speaker 3: So I would first go to implify dot com, e p ify dot com. Okay, there's free re resources that we have free classes helping you learn how to build passive income in the stock market, how you can start investing with real estate with small amounts of money, and we have a ton of more resources coming out. Okay, but when it comes to getting on our platform, one, I always tell people, you don't wanna come on this platform if you don't wanna work. I value my graduation rates. I don't want you to come and quit on yourself because if I look at empathy as the Harvard or finance, what makes Harvard Harvard is not because they find great people. What makes Harvard Harvard is that they don't let great people fail. Wow, so and inside of our app, we have a no member left behind policy. You can't quit on Ashley, because I know you don't. You can't get this anywhere else. You can't walk to a bank and say, hey, I want to learn how to buy my first stock. Only have ten dollars. That's not how it works, right. So our Wealthware this community app. You can download it in app store. It has a monthly or annual subscription, but it's literally like the Netflix of finance. So you come in, you don't have a brokerage account, probably take stocks on on On or take our Passive income boot can. Some people are over the age of fifty, they're thinking about retiring. Some people are parents parent investing boot Camp. So there's a lot of different programs in schools, so where you look at it like a university where you can matriculate through education. But we have like our book club. We have an annual conference coming up. Like there's so many things in a community, like safe environment, because where do you go to talk about starting small where everyone's celebrating you yes, and nobody's doubting you. You're not trying to convince someone to invest. Inside the app, we're all investors. Yes, So it's really getting us into a space where it is okay to start small. Literally literally last year we invested close to three million dollars collectively as a unit, just our members alone. These are people that never had investment accounts, people making forty fifty thousand dollars a year, working professionals, entrepreneurs, and I want to get to a million dollars in a day. What does it look like if our community we have a platform of ninety percent of our members are African American? What does it look like we have a group of African Americans from all over the world coming together and in the day we invest a million dollars collectively in your portfolio? What you decide, what works for you, doing your research, and we do it together. So we're becoming the Harvard of Finance, that is the middle man between the everyday person and Wall Street. Because it's not that Wall Street is bad. They have the financial accounts, the resources that we need. But can they speak our language and do they have to? The banking system does not have to survive if all of our community doesn't invest. They just need you to bank and take out debt. That's what keeps this country going. But what if we can become the client I used to serve. What if we had a place where you shouldn't have to have twenty five million dollars to know how to grow your money, to know how to properly pass it down so that we don't have GoFundMe accounts to take care of our failures. Yeah, it's like, why do we have to start over every generation because we weren't educated? And I think it's us saying it stops for me, Like it stops for me, and it starts for me. It's not easy. Nobody around you is gonna be doing it until FI gets way bigger and we reach billions of people. And the world is just starting to adapt to financial literacy. Have phenomenal companies and people talking about it, especially in our community. But when I left in twenty thirteen, there was no real Instagram. Nobody was talking about it. So I think the world is ready to learn financial education, and Empathy is a company to help you do it. So you can go to wealth with thisess community dot com. See all the programs we have in our app. You can go to emplify dot com. There's a lot of stuff that we do events that we have all over the country and members all over the world learning how to start with what they have to achieve, what their financial freedom looks like, what their financial success looks like for themselves and their family.

00:31:04
Speaker 2: I love that, Astley. That is amazing. I'm proud of you.

00:31:07
Speaker 1: From where you started to everything that you've achieved and then to having the wherewithal and taking a leap effect to start your own business is incredible because I know entrepreneurship is not easy.

00:31:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I.

00:31:20
Speaker 1: Commend you for that, seriously, Thank you so much. Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us. I know that this is something that is near and dear to my heart, and I really want to spread knowledge in any way that I can't, especially in this financial literacy area.

00:31:34
Speaker 2: So I'm super excited for.

00:31:35
Speaker 1: This episode, and I hope that you've already helped me.

00:31:37
Speaker 2: You got my wheel.

00:31:38
Speaker 1: Turned, girl, so I'm excited for sure. Before we get out of here, if you got a second, we do this thing called Positive Outcomes where our listeners write in and we give them advice.

00:31:51
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, so this one.

00:31:52
Speaker 1: Says hi christ So I hope all is well. Thank you for the kids platform, your episodes have impacted my life in so many positive ways. I'm a thirty year old teacher with a six year old child and a fiance who has two jobs. We do not overspend, nor do we live a lavish lifestyle, yet we can't seem to get it right with our finances. It has been bothering me for the longest time, and I really feel like I don't know how to start saving. Whenever I set some money aside, there's always an issue that comes with me dipping into that fund. Can you please shed some light on.

00:32:23
Speaker 2: This area as I desperately need it. Thank you. This is definitely a question for you.

00:32:29
Speaker 3: Okay, So, first thing, if you keep dipping into your savings, chances are it's too close to your checking account. That's it.

00:32:35
Speaker 2: I'm guilty of that.

00:32:37
Speaker 3: You'll just transfer it back and forth. When you're not accustomed to saving and investing. You have to create the habit of a wealth builder. Yes, you have to trick your mind one. So whatever you're setting aside, it should come out automatically. If you're taking money out and you're doing it on a consistent basis, that means you're setting aside too much money and you're not accounting for what you actually need money for.

00:32:58
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:32:59
Speaker 3: So I always tell people, do this, how much money can I set? So you do it too, thinking about in your head how much money can I send you?

00:33:04
Speaker 2: No more? But because I got people, But just.

00:33:07
Speaker 3: Think about it. But right now, if pick a number, then I can set aside every month, right like, I'm not gonna feel like I'm overdrawing my account. Right, I know I can set this aside. I'm okay, cut that number a half. That's what you should start setting aside.

00:33:20
Speaker 2: Oh got it?

00:33:21
Speaker 3: And again it's again that's the feeling. You want to think about setting money aside. It shouldn't be a strain. It should be I could do it and in doing it automatically where it's in an account. Recommend an online savings account. So I use markets by Gold, miss Sacks, Banguard has some really good online accounts. But look just google online how your savings account. Because what happens is I like to look at it like it's like a cloud account. It lives there. You can't go to the teller ask them to take the money out, and it takes at least one of two business days for you to get your money. Therefore, it's not easily accessible, so it's not easily available to you. So I would say, open up, open online. How you say this account, do that, exercise that number. That's what you set aside everywhere, and just let it build. And then the other thing I do I to always I still do this when you open these accounts open, I would say maybe two, maybe three different accounts under the platform for different purposes. So I have a I'm built for this fund. So any time God forbid something happens, it's not an emergency fund. Nobody wants to save for an emergency. I want to set money aside. In my eye, AM built for this fund because no matter what happens, I'm built for this. I have a I'm a world traveler, right I have I want to get a mansion in Atlanta, so I have my mansion expansion account. Right, So set money aside for the things that you want. Because saving, the word saving is like budget. It's like I gotta cut back, or it's like diet, No I want to eat, I don't want to It was like yes, So in this case, we can set aside. We can create a spending plan, we can set money aside for what we want you know, things might come up. I'm built for this fund. You know, you want to get that new home. You know, I'm a homeowners You want to look at that account and be happy that it exists and want to put money aside, and it makes the process just a little bit.

00:35:06
Speaker 1: I love that. That's good. I love I'm gonna take that too. That was for me as well. But I did need to be one of those people, Like my savings account was like right.

00:35:15
Speaker 2: There, and I'd be like, I need, I want to go do this. Let me pull this out success. It's way too accessible.

00:35:21
Speaker 1: But yeah, they had to like, no, Chrystal, we're gonna put this over here so you can't touch it.

00:35:24
Speaker 3: And but that's good that they treat you like that. Not everybody has that person. Sometimes you have to be that person.

00:35:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's so true. So that's great advice. I love that. Thank you.

00:35:38
Speaker 1: We also like to ask our guests what you are going through and what you're growing through.

00:35:42
Speaker 3: Okay, is there anything.

00:35:43
Speaker 1: That you're going through and growing through in this season in your life?

00:35:47
Speaker 3: So one thing I learned about entrepreneurship. So when I left Wall Street to create Emplify, there was no blueprint to what I wanted to do. There is no Harvard or finance, So I'm creating a blueprint right with that, there's syllabus to life. So therefore, your goals and your intentions are what guide you. So I kind of struggled my way through figuring out how to get the world to want. We started to generate revenue. We became very successful, and you need help in business, but there was a point where I didn't have the money for the help. So you learned to become everybody in your business. And so I'm being everybody. I'm figuring it out. We started to make more money. Now I'm in a place where we have the money, but I'm so used to doing everything, but I physically can't anymore. Yes, now you have to rely on people. You have to trust, you have to find, you have to train, you have to lead. It's where I'm used to, you know, being actually making the money, where now I have to become the leader that created the billion dollar business that changes the world financially. And so I would say, what I'm going through and what I'm growing through is what does it look like to find the best talent, to hire the best talent, to lead the best talent to create the best culture for the company. And again I don't have no blueprint and to have coaches and things like that, but they're not in my office every single day. So I think hiring talent. Hiring talent, that's what literally half of my time is. And so that is the phase I'm in right now. I want to get so good at fine. I mean, granted, I heard that you don't ever get it perfect, which is fine. I just want to get a little. So my coach asked me the other day, if you grade yourself on scale of one to ten, hierre you with like hiring your finding talent. I said I'm a three and he said, good, what do we need do to get you three point one? And so I'm like, okay. So I think embracing that process to grow from a three to a four, a four to a five, to really understand that we are one of the best companies that exists. We leave with our heart. We just so happen to learn how to make money. We grow when our community gets educated the most. The better our education, the better our product, the better our company, the more people we serve. How do I allow the world to know that? How do I embody that as a CEO, and how do I attract the right talent the way I can create the boyfriend or the relationship I want? How can I create the environment and the company with the talent that I have. And so that's one of the biggest things that it's a struggle for me because I don't know what I don't know, And this is something I've never done. I've been here before in this with this feeling, but it's really hard to get very discouraging at times because I don't know if it's me it's them, Am I right? You know? I just don't know. And you burn through so much money trying to find the right talent. So I think that's the that's the I think. Once I get over it, I'm sure it be something else I'm gonna go through. But for me, I think we're finally good, Like we're not. We don't have money problems. I'm not living on my parents' couch anymore. It's like we have the resources, we got the benefits. Where do we go to find the best? How do we attract the best? How do we provide the best? And so I think that's one of the It's so interesting because the way I'm articulating it. It's like a it's like a beautiful experience and I'm growing through but when I'm at home. But yeah, I think that is the as an entrepreneur, learning how to let go and lead because that is the only way you can. I mean, I want to build a billion dollar business. That's what we all track to do. What will come.

00:39:10
Speaker 2: I can't.

00:39:11
Speaker 3: I can't do that trying to do everything. But I have to learn how to be everything I can for the people that we serve and for the team that we have. And every day I'm figuring that out.

00:39:22
Speaker 2: I love that. Thank you for your transparency.

00:39:25
Speaker 3: Thank you.

00:39:29
Speaker 1: We also do this thing called keep it blank, sweetie, where we fill in the blank, and I'm gonna say for this one, keep it open minded, sweety, because when it comes to finances, a lot of times in our culture, it's because we don't have the exposure of other open mindedness to see that, oh this can be bigger than where I am right now.

00:39:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, what would you do?

00:39:48
Speaker 3: As my title keep it blank?

00:39:51
Speaker 2: What would you do?

00:39:52
Speaker 3: I was gonna take yours, keep it, keep it, keep it.

00:40:00
Speaker 2: I know it's tough to.

00:40:04
Speaker 3: Keep it, keep it aligned.

00:40:10
Speaker 2: I like that.

00:40:11
Speaker 3: That's good. I love that you.

00:40:18
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, this was amazing.

00:40:20
Speaker 1: Thank you guys for tuning in to this episode of Keep It Positive.

00:40:22
Speaker 2: Sweetie.

00:40:23
Speaker 1: If you want to write into our Positive Outcomes listener letter, you can write in and keep it Positive sweety at gmail dot com.

00:40:29
Speaker 2: And at sweetye with an Ie.

00:40:30
Speaker 1: You can follow me on all platforms at love christorinee and that's l u V Ashley. Tell the people where they can find you so.

00:40:37
Speaker 3: Our company implify E M P I f y dot com. On social media, I am Underscore, Ashley M Fox, TikTok the Ashley M Fox and all over Twitter, all the accounts. Yeah, but again on social media Instagram, Underscore Ashley and Fox.

00:40:50
Speaker 2: I love it. Thank you so much, guys.

00:40:52
Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in in the meantime in between time you know what to do.

00:40:56
Speaker 2: Keep it positive, Sweetie. Love you guys. Bye,