Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of young ladies about the importance of establishing healthy financial behaviors as young women. Here’s the rundown of my presentation:

• I advised the group to mimic the professional behaviors of women like Beyonce, Michelle Obama and Oprah who have all excelled in their respective careers while maintaining admirable public images.

• We discussed the consequences of debt and emphasized the importance of saving money.

• The most impactful advice I gave the girls was to “Ball on a Budget.”

As you all know by now, budgeting is a topic that I am super passionate about. Too often people stretch themselves thin to meet an irrelevant standard or impress people that do not matter.  It is extremely important to stay in your lane when managing your personal finances. I thought my “Ballin on a Budget” explanation was pretty thorough until I received a question at the end of my presentation. A young lady asked, “How do I ball on a budget with no job?”  It was a very good question considering all the girls participating in the workshop were younger than the legal working age. Plus, you must have income in order to budget and ball. My answer was simple, I told the girls to change their perception of what “working” means.

Most people think about working as being an employee. An employee is hired by a company to perform certain duties, during specified hours of the day and in return, the employee is paid a set amount of money at the end of their pay period. There is a less common approach to working referred to as entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is when person organizes and operates a business that they started. They become their own boss and assume all responsibilities related to running their company. Instead of being hired by a company, an entrepreneur does the hiring. They are the BAWSE!! Entrepreneurs make their own work schedules and they have the potential to earn more money than an “employee” who works for someone else.  Although the potential rewards of being an entrepreneur exceed those of being a traditional employee, there are some risks to consider when pursuing an entrepreneurial career. In the early stages of your business, income (if any) can fluctuate. Entrepreneurs encounter a lot of rejection and they work long hours. It is the individual’s responsibility to determine if the risks are worth the reward. If you are a high risk, high reward type of individual, keep in mind that entrepreneurs make up the biggest segment of millionaires in the U.S., whereas entertainers account for less than 1% of all millionaires.

So back to the question, how can you ball on a budget without a job? Make a job! Ok, ok. I can hear your grumbling questions over the internet, “Well how do I make a job?” Here are 8 tips to pursuing your first entrepreneurial venture:

1. Write down your talents.

2. Write down your strengths.

3. Write down your hobbies.

4. Write down the things that other people like about you.

5. Review your list.

6. Circle the things on the list that people are willing to pay for.

7. Put a box around the item that has the most potential.

8. Develop a strategy to launch your business around the item in #7.

Once you put #8 into action, you will have become an entrepreneur. And don’t think you are too young. There are thousands of youth across the world that have already started businesses who are younger than you. Here are a few:

This is Zoe Damacela, she is the CEO of Zoe Damacela Apparel. She started her first
business at 8 years old.

This is Thomas Suarez, a 14 year old app developer and founder of CarrotCorp, a
company that designs games for mobile devices.

This is Leanna Archer. She started her company, Leanna’s Inc at 9 years old.
Leanna’s Inc makes all natural hair care products.

There is an old saying,”If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.” I want our
readers to never work a day in their lives. Working for other people is so 1990. Develop your strengths
and talents early while you don’t have anything to loose. The older you get, the harder it gets to
become an entrepreneur. So get started now. You do not have to be a businesswoman, you can BE the
BUSINESS!!

…then you can really Ball on a Budget

-Courtney Hale

Good morning girls!

Time to zone out to Jaden Smith’s new song & vid “Hello.”

Enjoy!

Good morning, girls!

Check out our FLY girls at C.O.R.E On-site participating in their “Healthy Snack” session at Lead Academy!

Good morning fly girls!

Check out Jada Grace’s new song- Run Dat Back

Name: Kelly Hernandez

Age:  12

City: Nashville

Grade: 7th

What is your dream job and why?   

My dream job is  to be an Artist.  I really love creating!

Which hobbies do you enjoy?     

My favorite hobbies are painting & reading.

Who is your biggest crush?   

Tyler Perry

What’s your favorite song to jam to right now?   

    “Oath” by Cher Lloyd

If you could change one thing about the world, what would that be? 

  If I could change one thing in the worl

What does empowerment mean to you?     

Empowerment means believing yourself & being true to yourself.

What are your plans after high school?           

My plans are to attend Vanderbilt University!

How have your helped someone in your life lately?   

I listen and try to give solutions

Who is your role model and why?    

  I’m still in search of my role model.

Civic duty – n. the responsibilities of a citizen

Where does our civic responsibility begin? What is required of us just based on being a citizen of the world? How much concern should we show for our fellow citizens? How much should we allow to go on around us without taking any action? How close does the offense have to be to you before you deem it necessary for you to respond to it? Will you call 911 if you see someone being assaulted on the streets? Will you speak up for the student who is constantly bullied at school? If your friend is about to do something morally wrong or illegal, would you try to stop them? What if there is a problem plaguing your community, would you take steps to solve it?

There’s a show called What Would You Do? that comes on ABC. It’s a hidden camera show that sets up different scenarios to see how people will react. On one episode, they set up a situation where a little girl was getting abducted. It was the middle of the day on a fairly busy street. A man was struggling with a little girl, and she was screaming, “Somebody help! You’re not my dad!” It took hours before someone tried to help the seven-year-old girl. I was stunned. How detached are we from each other that we can see a little girl who could possibly be in serious trouble and not do anything? I’m not saying that they should have tried to physically stop the man, but at least they could have called the police. I know that we don’t always know what the situation is and that little girl could have just been a child defying her parent, but I believe it is better to be safe than sorry. Call the police and let them sort it out. When the show’s host interviewed the people who just kept walking, most of them said that they thought someone else would do something. That’s probably how a lot of us feel about the ills that we see every day.

The problem with the idea that someone else will do something is that nothing ever gets done. I know that we don’t have the time to take up EVERY cause, but I challenge you to decide on at least one thing that you would like to change and start taking steps to change it. Sometimes, trying to make any kind of change can seem like a daunting task, but just start with baby steps. As with any long journey, it starts with a single step. Once you take that initial step, the others will become easier, and before you know it, you will be well on your way to accomplishing something great.

How many things do you see or hear every day that bother you? Whatever your answer to that question is the number of opportunities that you have to improve the world around you. Of the things that trouble you, what upsets you the most? This could be where you should direct your energy because it is possibly something that you are passionate about, and when the road gets tough, it’s easier to fight for something that you care deeply about versus some arbitrary cause. Now that you’ve chosen a cause to take up, are you part of the problem? If so, the first change you need to make is within yourself. Doing this can make a huge impact on those around you because it gives you and your cause so much more credibility. I think we’ve all encountered people telling us how to live our lives, but not practicing what they preach. This makes their admonitions less affective because they don’t even believe enough in what they’re saying to take their own advice. When people see that you believe something so strongly that it changes you, they will take note.

So, I ask you again, where does your civic responsibility begin? How much nonsense are you willing to allow to go on around you without doing anything about it? Does something have to “hit close to home” before you decide it requires your attention? Whatever the case may be, when all of the factors fall into place and you decide that something needs to be done, will you step up and do it?

-Tiffany Vicks

“Don’t accept less than what it is that you know that you want. Don’t allow someone to be a jerk. Don’t allow someone to disrespect you. Listen to the bigger voice in your head telling you that you deserve the best, whatever that is whatever that is you decide you like for yourself. It may differ from what I like or what is ideal for me. But the bottom line is to never accept less than what you know you deserve.” -Kimora Lee Simmons

“Anything a guy can do a girl can do better…except being stupid.” -Kimora Lee Simmons

“Life is a series of adjustments; You can make changes along the way, but if you don’t start moving forward you’ll never get anywhere!” -Kimora Lee Smmons

Good morning, girls!

So you constantly hear about all the problems and violence in the world and automatically assume that your voice doesn’t matter, right? Wrong!

Bryan Cross, 28 year-old South Side native,  was fed up with the crisis of gun violence in Chicago and decided to make his voice heard.

He posted a photo of himself with the caption “Angry Because Over 500 Youth Were Murdered in Chicago.” Seemingly overnight, Facebook and Instagram users were flooding his inbox asking that he make one for them.

And just like that, an online anti-violence movement was born: the 500 Campaign.

From NBC Chicago:

He’s had fairly steady requests over the past couple of weeks, but when 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins was fatally shot on Monday, the requests started coming in fast and furious.

He’s edited hundreds of photos for his followers, who in turn are spreading the message on their own social media networks.

“There’s a depression out here, people are wondering what they can do,” Cross said. “I wanted to get people worked up so they at least feel like there’s something they can do to address the violence.”

Bryan is hoping to stage an anti-violence rally downtown sometime this summer.

Learn more about the 500 Campaign at its Facebook page HERE

SUPPORT THE 500 CAMPAIGN!

How will YOU use your voice to make a change?

SPEAK OUT!

Good morning Fly Girls!

It’s time to kick off your morning right with Tuesday Tunes! Check out cutie Trevor Jackson’s new song “Like We Grown”

Enjoy!

Acting, singing & dancing, are just a few of the talents Jaida-Iman Benjamin has to offer to the world! This triple threat is the perfect combo of fresh talent, ultimate drive & undeniable beauty! From being featured on TNT’s hit show Southland to acting on Disney Channel’s Austin & Ally, there is nothing that this young star on the rise isn’t able to accomplish. The LA based teen actress, is on the road of accomplishing her dreams & motivating girls as she is doing it!

Let’s get to know Jaida-Iman Benjmain a little better…

Being young and having responsibilities can sometimes get to be a bit overwhelming, how do you regroup and motivate yourself when you’re feeling a little defeated?

How I regroup and motivate myself when I’m feeling a little defeated is by remembering how blessed I am to had come so far. I believe God has a strategic plan for everyone and a lot of times just because things don’t go the way WE want it to go, we get angry. But remembering that there is a plan for me and everything happens for a reason, regroups my mentality.