Early Accountability

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Essence Revealed, a performer, former stripper, former teacher, former real estate agent, and author. Essence has taken all of the lessons she has learned about herself and about life and has written a book and accompanying course to help other women win in their own lives. She had to get over the things that were holding her back in her performing career and she is still working through issues with depression with her therapist. She believes that we are worthy just because we are here on earth. We should take that to heart and be confident, always speaking to ourselves positively and truthfully. One of her most beneficial daily practices is not reaching for her phone as soon as she wakes up, but rather taking that time to focus on herself and prepare for the day.

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, our guest is Christina MacMullen, a blogger, writer, and entrepreneur. After a series of failed relationships and bad breakups, Christina set out to write a book about dating advice for women over 30, and her first step in the process was to start a blog. She wants to use her experiences to help guide other women through their relationships and getting back on the dating scene. Christina encourages women to get out of bad relationships as soon as they know it is going to end poorly, and to get back out there and start meeting more men once they are ready. For those who already expected to be married but find themselves very single, Christina recommends “dating yourself” by practicing self-care and intentionally scheduling dates to go to a nice restaurant or to a movie as a treat. Come to appreciate yourself rather than focus on the frustration of not being in a relationship, and be ok by yourself. There are many other women and men in your same situation,

Amiyrah Martin joins us on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast to discuss her personal blog “4 Hats and Frugal.” Over 10 years ago, Amiyrah started her blog as a way to keep herself accountable as she and her husband were venturing to live frugally and tackle their debt. From that time on, she has been known as “the girl who kept it real” on social media and has amassed quite a following of readers who have started their own journeys to frugal living. The first step that Amiyrah encourages everyone to take is evaluating what you truly need at the grocery store. By purchasing only what you know you will eat, you can do your part to cut down on food waste and you will see the ripple effect that even a $10 reduction every week can have on your family budget. Amiyrah has also built up a few other online brands that align with her own personality and interests, and she encourages others to be true to themselves and “share the answers to this test called life” with others who are living life with you.

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, our guest is Chandell Stone, founder of Destination Teach. During grad school, Chandell became aware of a school in rural Kenya that was in need of a little TLC. She and a friend came up with the idea to send a group of myelinated volunteers who would pay their own way to serve the school and spend some time getting to know the culture and people of Kenya. Destination Teach has since become an organization and has continued to send approximately 100 participants per year to Kenya and Morocco, and they will initiate a trip to Haiti this year. Chandell and the trip participants have found this trip to be mutually beneficial, as the participants are able to visit the homeland of their ancestors and native Africans are able to get to know the African-American culture a bit better. In the future, Chandell hopes to create some university partnerships and a gap year program for boys, as well as continue to work of sustainable development in Kenya through scholarsh

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Ananda Leeke, a mindfulness guru, author, and host of the Thriving Mindfully podcast. Ananda found herself completely wound up by stress and suffering from panic attacks after years spent taking the Bar Exam and working in investment banking and public service. Her therapist recommended that she try mindfulness before resorting to medication, so she began meditating, journaling, and doing yoga, and she found freedom from the stress that had taken over her life. Mindfulness is our human birthright, and it can show the gateway to who we truly are if we are mindful on purpose, in the present moment, and with no judgment. Ananda talks about how technology can either support or distract from mindfulness: Support: by setting alarms on your devices to breathe or go for a walk, downloading apps that can assist with meditation, or watching youtube videos about mindfulness Distract: by causing us to constantly be connected and reachable and decreasing p

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, we are joined by Kimberly Williams, an entrepreneur and network marketer through Beauty Counter. Kim was in the midst of a career in the corporate world when she found out that her mother was battling an auto-immune disorder. This gave her a new outlook on her life, making her realize that she wanted to be doing something that mattered to her, such as providing safer beauty products to her clients, since there are almost no regulations for the ingredients used in the beauty industry, and some products have been proven to have harmful effects. Her corporate experience in sales and marketing prepared her for the digital communications and personal selling that she currently does at Beauty Counter, and it has provided her family with the flexibility to become closer together and more financially stable. At first, Kim was working her full-time corporate job and doing Beauty Counter on the side, but when she built up a client base, she and her husband decided th

LaToya Franks of Avid Innovative Solutions LLC joined us for this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast to talk about her journey to a flexible and fulfilling work life that would allow her to homeschool her daughter. LaToya has experience in call centers, government tax revenue, and security sales, and in all of these professions, she felt stuck in a rigid daily routine just to make ends meet and barely get to spend any time with her daughter. She knew that she needed a change, so she reached out to as many resources as she could to find a flexible way to work from home and homeschool, striking the perfect balance of family time and bringing in income. LaToya has secured contractors from many companies, including some Fortune 500 companies, to remotely handle their customer service calls and has begun signing contractors to assist with the customer service calls that come in. LaToya has finally found the non-traditional work environment that she was looking for by determining what she really wanted for

EAP 38: Preparing for a Healthy Marriage While You're Single or Still Dating by Kimi Walker

Todd Parker of Parker Education & Development LLC joins us on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast to discuss using personality mining to build up the climate and culture of schools and small businesses. In a very practical sense, teachers and other professionals cannot do their best work and affect the most change in their students or clients if they do not first understand themselves. By going through a strengths-based assessment and “personality mining” process, individuals gain valuable self-awareness and understanding of their mind, body and spirit needs and motivations. These individuals have the opportunity to influence how they interact with each other, with their leaders, and with their students or clients by leading by example and experience. A few of the entrepreneurship lessons that Todd has learned in the past several years are: • If you put in the work, you can do what you may not have expected • Make sure you grow from obstacles and failures, rather than being discouraged by th

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Lyris Green, a DJ in the Atlanta area. Early on, her dad instilled and encouraged in her a love for music that has remained a passion throughout her life, even when it was not her profession. After her father’s passing, Lyris grew in her relationship with God and she felt that it was time for her to leave her job in public service to be a DJ full-time, grounded in her faith. She now knows that she is exactly where she needs to be, and she constantly speaks affirmations to herself in the midst of the ups and downs of life. By cultivating her God-given gift in the area of music, Lyris is able to give that gift to the world and be confident in her role as a female in the industry. She urges others to pursue their passions with confident faith and make the best decisions for themselves, trusting that they can do anything they set their minds to. Topics Covered in this Episode: • Having the courage to pursue your passions • Following the leading of

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, we are joined by LaShonda Brown, a serial entrepreneur and marketing guru. LaShonda has created and runs Life Focus Pictures which helps local businesses tell their stories, About 90 Marketing which is a marketing consulting firm, and Eye for Ebony which is on a mission to increase the quality and quantity of stock images available that feature people of color. In order to manage these brands day-to-day, LaShonda has established tried-and-true systems that allow her to integrate her clients and their needs into her workflow and then provide them with her expertise and guidance throughout their process. When it comes to content creation, she believes that everyone can use their strengths and personality traits to determine how they want to communicate and share their message in the optimal space. Despite what people think, businesses do not need to have a presence on every social media platform, but would in fact be more effective targeting their efforts to

Lakrisha Davis, a career coach, speaker, and success mentor, is our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast. Coming from a Human Resources and Recruiting background, Lakrisha is strategically equipped to help the job seeker and entrepreneur align their true passion to their desire and need to make money. Lakrisha has always been told that she has a gift in the areas of motivating, challenging, encouraging, and mentoring others, and she has found a way to monetize these gifts. She wants to help others find their niche as well. By taking advantage of networking on and off of LinkedIn, she has found great success in meeting the right people, curating opportunities, and making and receiving referrals and references. She encourages job seekers and entrepreneurs to join the conversation in whatever online or offline community appeals to them and assists them in reaching their goals by consistently talking about your passion and sharing your struggles as well as your successes. It may not seem lik

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast is Bianca Jackson, LinkedIn guru and founder of Jax Digital, LLC. By being intentional with her digital brand, Bianca has found a sweet spot of telling relatable and encouraging stories from her everyday life and gaining credibility through this authenticity. She helps small businesses, job seekers, and freelancers seeking clients push past their frustrations associated with work to achieve their performance and success objectives. When it comes to social media, connecting with and commenting on the posts of people who inspire you will provide you not only with networking for your mutual benefit but with a platform to potentially help your acquaintances and clients with future job opportunities. By being seen as an expert in your industry, you can build up a tribe of people who listen to what you have to say and want to be involved with whatever you put out there. Your expertise and authenticity in interactions will make all of the sales you need.

On this episode of the Early Accountability podcast, our guest is Debraca Russell of the Agape Career Counseling Group. Drawing upon her experiences in retail management going through the interviewing and hiring process, Debraca coaches her clients through resume creation, job searches, and the interview process. Whether you think you know what career you want to pursue or not, she recommends that everyone take a personality assessment that will help align your personality traits to the potential careers in which you could have the most success. You should be happy at work, not continually unfulfilled or uncomfortable. If you are looking to change careers or pursue a promotion, be sure that you find out what the hiring managers are looking for and work hard to genuinely portray those attributes. When it comes to resumes, Debraca’s crucial advice is to be consistent, be honest, and be grammatically correct. If you did not complete your degree or certification, do not list it on your resume. Additionally, if

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Maya Tyler, who was suddenly and tragically widowed when her children were very young. When her husband died in a freak accident, Maya desperately searched for resources that could help her know what she was supposed to do next, but there was nothing out there that fit her situation. As she found her way, she dedicated herself to helping other people in her situation find their own road maps to healing. Despite the stigma in the African-American community around mental health and the expectation that women “hold their own”, no matter the circumstances, she sought help through therapy. Maya’s outlook on life changed completely when her therapist said “You know who you are now. Who do you want to be next?” At the time, she had no idea who she wanted to be or how to get there, but now she provides resources for other women to accept their situation, assess themselves and their environment, and create an action plan to become who they want to be.

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, we are joined by Anitra Durand Allen, a family and relationships coach and a parenting and lifestyle content creator. A gifted child herself in the areas of academics, athletics, and performing arts, Anitra recognized the need for content aimed at the parents of high-achieving children when she struggled to find it. Anitra came from an engineering and project management background in corporate America, and when she realized the benefit that these skills could be when applied to her household, she decided to use her newfound affinity for the online community to transfer her knowledge to other families seeking advice on life with gifted children. Oftentimes, high-achieving children are very advanced in capacity and intellect, but they need some guidance to develop socially and emotionally. By meeting them where they are and following a process that will help them understand and cultivate their behavior, families can communicate with love and effectiveness.

Kimi Walker's guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Jas Thomas, a community leader who has started the Girls with Goals Movement to make positive images of women of color more prominent in society. Jas takes a very hands-on approach to this movement, often hosting “empowerment events” that include a social aspect as well as a panel discussion with professionals in the fields of physical health, mental health, and financial wellbeing. She has also recently started a program to help women achieve goal clarity and be provided with the motivation and accountability they need to succeed. Jas has found that there is a barrier between interacting with an online community and actually meeting with those same people in person. She has built her network with relationships cultivated individually both online and in person, and her advice is to reach out to those people you know you can touch or could impact you. Online, you can easily engage with the social media posts of those people who interest

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, Kimi is joined by LaDeia Joyce, who found out on September 29, 2016, that she had HIV. She took the next year to document her journey and dwell on Psalm 23 while only a handful of people knew about her diagnosis, and on September 29, 2017, she held an event during which she publicly disclosed her status for the first time. LaDeia has experienced first-hand the stigmas and misconceptions about HIV since her diagnosis, and her goal is to provide resources and support through her blog, videos, and events to others who may be going through the same journey. In the early days and weeks after learning her status, LaDeia searched for resources to help her process and cope, but she found that if she wanted an African-American woman’s perspective, she would have to be the one to give it a voice. Over the past nearly two years, LaDeia has found great comfort in her relationship with God and through consistent therapy sessions. She encourages everyone to get tested

Ebonee Monique Thompson, owner and founder of The Persona Agency, joins us on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast. Ebonee is a published author and social media and content expert who began consulting in response to the number of requests she received after the publication of her second book. She got her start by winning the Elevator Pitch contest through Black Enterprise with her idea for Momma I Want To Write, a ghostwriting company that would help people without the time or talent to write their own stories. Momma I Want To Write evolved into The Persona Agency when Ebonee saw the need for content writing and strategy and social media management in addition to ghostwriting, and The Persona Agency now exists to help businesses tell their stories. Ebonee’s advice to those who want to start writing is: •Write something every single day •Grow comfortable with being authentic and transparent •Don’t be discouraged by your areas of weakness – find someone who can do those things for you Ebonee’s ad

EAP 26: Perfecting Your Digital Marketing + Visual Strategy by Kimi Walker