,
20 tweets,
5 min read
Read on Twitter
Let’s talk about this. Cause.... #Blackanomics #wealthbuilding & #mentalhealth all mixed up in here...
So first I'll disclose to be absolutely transparent. For the handful of my twitter peeps that personally know me, y'all already know that I have a million jobs. I always have and I'm not sure if or when that will change. At this point I'm convinced its just a part of who I am 🤷🏾♀️
I started working at 14 and have worked consistently since. It hasn't always been traditional work but it was important to me to stay busy and have multiple streams of income to support my expensive shopping habits and later as a young adult to SAVE.
I've worked in all kinds of industries, trying my hand at different things but always stayed close to sales/retail and had a strong side hustle all my life. My grandparents drilled into me there has never been time in life for black people where we had too much money so grind.
At 14 I worked evenings and weekends at a small florist shop in Suffolk VA, apprenticing under the owner/head designer & took those skills home & started throwing "un-Home Interior" parties where I'd look up the latest trends, make several versions for half the price...
...and host mini decor parties to my grandmother's social clubs and neighborhood friends in a small room my grandfather added to the garage in the back yard. On the weekends I was learning the trade of the family business: house flips and property management.
In college I continued my side hustle & added a few more. I picked up a management position at a floral counter in an arts & craft store while selling premade silk funeral arrangements wholesale to area funeral homes & doing hair in my appt kitchen, paying off my car + savings.
Jr yr I became a single mother & really started saving so I started selling timeshares & picked up a telemarketing job that paid more than my managers salary & bounced. My grandfather died a yr later (cancer) & I became the new CEO of his real estate business, with a toddler...
I left the floral side hustle alone and went full throttle running the family business & landing a high paying corporate job in RVA. Got married a yr later & launched another small business w/ the husband in Northside. Soon after I left the corporate job to be a SAHM & was bored
I started a blog, I went back to retail (which I always did over the summers) I went to school. I did all the things & was bored out of my mind so I started taking retail jobs just to have somewhere to go during the day once the kiddo was in school. I didn't do idle time.
I'd throw big dinner parties or holiday parties just to have something to do. I couldn't sit still. And by total mistake, I ended up getting paid to plan parties for other people and that led me right back to my passion in floral design and event planning.
So guess what I did, I launched business #3 in my household & threw myself back into floral design & I love it! But somewhere in the middle of last year's wedding season I realized something was missing. SLEEP BITCH. In the mix I had picked up a part time helping a friend
while launching yet another business, this one more time consuming, and looked up one day & was like "wtf you doing Fran?" You're not sleeping. Then I asked myself when was the last time I actually slept, like Dr. recommended hrs. The answer was embarrassing...like 2006 🤦🏾♀️
Why wasn't I sleeping? Because I wasn't allowing myself to rest. I was too busy in my bag. Literally. I was stacking coins, but I was also cranky, hella tired, barely eating, always feeling bad or staying sick, and was watching my son grow up at break neck speed in mere glimpses.
I was making the most out of my 24 hours a day & slowing killing myself in the time being. I could see the importance in investing my my business and my child and his education but I wasn't taking the time to invest in myself through rest and self care. And my body let me know
I've bought all the Steve Harvey books & a dozen others like them, the best sellers that teach you to buy into the idea of working like a mad (wo)man to build your empire & sleep when you die. You've only got 24hrs a day, don't waste any daylight. Go to bed late & wake up early.
And maybe that concept has merit...but it's short lived. Working from sun up to sun down to have money that you don't have time to spend is a level of my ADHD that I hope I've defeated forever. Successful people surely invest a lot of time into their development, but balance tho
It pains me to hear Steve stand before an audience of eager listeners & sell this recipe to an early grave to these people b/c some of them will believe it and they'll try to do just that. Its quite easy for celebrities to suggest this b/c they're surrounded by supportive teams
I not saying don't chase the bag, cause we all need the bag to have shit. I get it. Just don't loose sight of the life happening around you while you slave in the bag. Get your damn rest, be productive, make smart financial decisions. Make the money, don't let the money make you.
Unroll please @threadreaderapp
