Education is an investment in the future, but for many, the cost of that investment can be crippling.
This week, I sat down with Dreamer and Forbes 30 under 30 fellow Briana Franklin, the driving force behind The Prosp(a)rity Project whose mission is to empower Black women burdened by student debt and provide a path to prosperity.
Briana was knee-deep in student debt after graduating from an Ivy League school as she faced the reality of inconsistent income, making it challenging to pay off her loans with the unforgiving interest. After experiencing first hand how challenging it can be to build wealth while facing student loan debt, Briana launched, The Prosp(a)rity Project, her platform to combat a system that often leaves young professionals financially overwhelmed.
In this episode, we discuss:
Mentioned In This Episode:
If you enjoyed today’s episode, here’s what you can do to support me and help more Dreamers discover the podcast:
Connect with Anne-Lyse:
Education is an investment in the future, but for many, the cost of that investment can be crippling.
This week, I sat down with Dreamer and Forbes 30 under 30 fellow Briana Franklin, the driving force behind The Prosp(a)rity Project whose mission is to empower Black women burdened by student debt and provide a path to prosperity.
Briana was knee-deep in student debt after graduating from an Ivy League school as she faced the reality of inconsistent income, making it challenging to pay off her loans with the unforgiving interest. After experiencing first hand how challenging it can be to build wealth while facing student loan debt, Briana launched, The Prosp(a)rity Project, her platform to combat a system that often leaves young professionals financially overwhelmed.
In this episode, we discuss:
Mentioned In This Episode:
If you enjoyed today’s episode, here’s what you can do to support me and help more Dreamers discover the podcast:
Connect with Anne-Lyse:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Anne-Lyse Wealth: This is The Dreamers Podcast, episode 123. Today is October 31st, 2023.
Briana Franklin: 35 billion in student debt, that black woman's shoulder under the 2 trillion, just about umbrella, but then also having financial, you know, literacy rates that are somewhere around 35%, according to a study ran by GFLEC, the global financial literacy excellence center.
And that's a terrible combination because when you are saddled with debt and you don't have a ton of money coming in, nor do you have like a firm understanding of what it means to be a stored of your finances, how to invest, how much you should be earning from your portfolio, from your brokerage accounts, from your high yield savings rates, These concepts are unfortunately so foreign to a lot of us because again, it's like our parents did the best with what they had and that goes all the way and all the way and all the way back. at some point, though, like, we've got to be able to supplement for that.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Hello, welcome to the Dreamers Podcast. I'm your host, Annelies Wealth, and I'm so excited for today's episode with Breanna Franklin. Breanna is the definition of a visionary and a problem solver. you've heard about the wealth gap, the racial wealth gap, The gender wealth gap and,
Brianna is on a mission to help close the wealth gap with her organization, the prosperity project. She's on a mission to empower black women and eradicate the burden of student debt.
with the Prosperity Project, Rihanna and her organization. Not only help black women paying off their student loan debt, but also provide resources and financial education and essentially a path to prosperity for these women.
Brianna is a Forbes 30 under 30 fellow. She's a recipient of the South by Southwest. 2023 innovation award for social impact and has been honored as visionary women's 2023, 2023 rising visionary. without further ado, here's Brianna Franklin,
Brianna Franklin. Welcome to the dreamers
Briana Franklin: podcast. Thank you. It's awesome to be here. Thank you for having me. for
Anne-Lyse Wealth: the dreamers who might not be familiar with you, please tell us a little bit about you and what you
Briana Franklin: do. I am the co founder and serve as the president and CEO of an organization called the prosperity project.
And our mission is to level the socioeconomic playing field for communities that are most susceptible to and have been most traditionally impacted by predatory lending.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: I know you started this organization from, personal experience. Can you share more about your personal journey when it comes to, student loan debt and what motivated you to take action through the prosperity project?
Briana Franklin: Totally, so it was very much just working with what life gave to me, basically, and turning pain into purpose. So I went to school, like, millions of other students past and present and went to Dartmouth college from 2013 to 2017 and quietly unbeknownst to me as a. 18 to 21 year old, I was silently racking up what eventually became 100, 000 dollars in student loans.
And about 2 years after graduating my private loan specifically, we're just spiraling out of control. And that was because the interest was variable, which I didn't even realize how many of that worked or what it meant. And that caused my rate of. Owing to far exceed my rate of earning and at the same time being at the time of very struggling fledgling entrepreneur with my first venture.
I had income that was inconsistent at best, non existent at worst. And it just made for a very terrible combination and put me in great financial distress. And I remember. I've had it moment in August of 2019 when my loans had gone so far unrepaid, they thankfully did not default. However, sorry, I had credit cards that had gone to collections with my student loans.
I had missed two consecutive months of payments and then caused my score to dip about 150 points overnight. So The feeling like I'd been cheated and burned by a system that I've been told my whole life was supposed to get me ahead. It just wasn't making sense. And it was causing this very disrupted spirit inside of me.
And I was just like, this is inexcusable. Like we owe young people. Much better than what they are experiencing right now. And so just in living that experience and in living that journey and having to sacrifice so much and, miss out on a lot of what would have been great opportunities work wise and even just enjoying myself.
I was instead having to. just kind of recalibrate and reshift my trajectory in order to get out of such a deep deficit and then eventually work my way to get better footing financially. So, the prosperity project has just been a way to channel all of that hurt and anger and. Rebelling against that unjust system, and then turn it around for the better.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: it's unfortunate that you, had to go through that, unfortunately, that, so many people, end up getting basically trapped into student loan debt because, you're 18 making the decision without having all of the facts. And I think, some institutions take advantage of that, right?
from 2020 up until this month, interest on federal student loans were pretty much on pause. I think October 1st is when it kicks back up officially or people have to start repaying. so I think this is actually the perfect timing to have this conversation. I know, October is Student Loan Awareness Month.
Briana Franklin: It is slam. Yep. So can
Anne-Lyse Wealth: you, explain the significance of that and, any specific activities or initiatives that are
Briana Franklin: planned around that? Yes. So, from here on out, we are definitely going to be basically taking over the month of October. there's so much significance and we have a lot of projects up our sleeve that are finally going live that we're excited to put out there.
So. We've really reimagined our existing programming material. So we started out just with 1 program, 35 to free, which gets its name from the 35Billion dollars in student debt, plus 35 percent financial literacy rate that black woman hold collectively. and so that was pretty much, like, the sole vein in which we did any work for our 1st, about 2 years and then.
We started to segue a little bit more into the prevention side, and we tested that in partnership with next gen personal finance. But we went back to the drawing board to figure out how we actually track this and scale this and sustain this over time. So, we're excited to re, introduce higher versus higher next month as well as our college facing measure higher than higher.
And the spelling is. Higher as in higher education, and then H. I. R. E. which is an acronym, but also prosperity through clarity. And that is our advocacy arm where we're working with companies to lead engagements that help them understand the predatory lending crisis because there's so much misinformation out there.
And I would say that. Apathy and ignorance are actually 2 of the biggest inhibitors to the cause more so than people who have actually bad intentions because there's a lot of people with good intentions who just don't know any better and they don't realize, oh, this doesn't function the way that it once did and the way it initially designed to 70 years ago to just give.
People who are in a tight spot a bit of an upper hand to pay for their tuition and then graduate repay it. and then, just go on. It's like, we're trying to help break down how loopholes were introduced with legislation and bad actors and how it just. Spiraled out of control, but then aside from that, our traditional programming, we also are going a little bit into the media and entertainment space by way of our upcoming show on debt feeded, which is a series that will premiere Friday, October 6, and it'll run every Friday at noon Eastern.
And I will be interviewing. Different individuals who have all had a brush with that themselves with predatory lending specifically, and just making, I would say, 1 of the 1st and most. unapologetically safe spaces for people who have been harmed and debt constrained to just share and have community, because I think that gets glossed over a lot in finance conversations, like, everyone's cool with talking about, oh, yeah, here's how to build a budget.
Here's how much to spend on groceries. Here's how to cut back. But when you talk about the uncomfortable situations, like, Oh yeah, that time that I defaulted because I couldn't afford my car loan, or it got repossessed. Or when I got into IRS tax debt, like just these things that have become stigmatized and usually carry a lot of shame, we're here to just upend all of that and help people regain control.
Over, the debt that has held them back in the past. So, yeah, lots up our sleeve that we're really excited to share.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: when it comes to, the work that you've been doing, or your organization has been doing around, student loan debt, and essentially that helping close the wealth gap. what would you say as they some of the things that you discovered in the process that, shows how having student loans impact someone's wealth building journey?
Briana Franklin: So I actually just learned a specific terminology for that at a conference I went to last month in Chicago called CAAFP, Conference of African American Finance Professionals. And they spoke specifically about what it means to be debt constrained. And I felt like it was just this aha, euphoria, epiphany moment because I had been trying to describe that without knowing exactly what that's called because I've learned that.
Everyone doesn't have my experience, know, I out, obviously very jaded, very angry. I branded all debt all loans as the work of Satan and thought that anyone who owed money was just like this, know, helpless victim and that anyone who lent was. the devil reincarnate, and I just had it in a very absolute black and white sort of mindset.
But as I've done this work, and as we've tried to really fine tune and reinforce our programming to make it more efficacious, to better serve and better deliver results that we want to our community members and our beneficiaries, I've realized that we have to look at those specifically who fall into the bucket of being debt constrained because Mistake I made was trying to extrapolate my experience and be like, everyone who has debt is suffering.
But in reality, there were some women in our program who were like, it'd be great to be out of debt, but I've only got 16 K and I make pretty good money. And, you others who were like, yeah, I might have 80 K, but I earn. Let's say 150 K, or I have help from family, or I have this situation or these circumstances that make it not nearly as much of a burden.
So just learning that. It's not a 1 size fits all situation. I think was a really big and important lesson that I had to learn and that I'm glad I learned. So that way I could work with our team. And make the right adjustments so that we are able to better tailor the program to those who do need the help and to also attract those who need the help as
Anne-Lyse Wealth: well.
earlier you mentioned predatory lending. It's not something that we often hear about when it comes to student loan debt. So, can you talk more about that?
Briana Franklin: by my definition, predatory lending is subprime lending. So that's basically the intent of giving someone a bad deal and giving them a loan that, you know, that they will have a hard time paying off so that you can jack up the interest rates and collect as they struggle and suffer under that burden.
And so much of it has to do with lack of transparency and just a very malicious. Greed induced spirit, because I think, just as I've done more research and I've studied the case studies and I've looked at different facets of business, know, the nonprofit and philanthropy side, but also for profits.
AndEntrepreneurs who are trying to pitch VCs, know, sometimes they'll, instead take a loan, but it's under like, the show shark tank, right? Every entrepreneur's favorite series to binge and I've watched the show and I've seen them sometimes make deals with sharks where they're like, okay, we're not going to take equity.
We will give you a loan. 7 percent interest paid off within three years. And I'm like, Oh, that's an example of a lender who, yes, they're going to benefit and profit to some extent, but it's within reasonable terms and they don't plan for it to last forever because they're not trying to harm the person that they're giving the money to, they're trying to make an arrangement and it's, rooted in business, but they are not.
Basically planning to milk them for every drop, right? So predatory lending is basically just, bad faith. Deal making and basically taking advantage of someone's ignorance and knowing that they're not going to have the full picture at 18 years old, know, when it comes to signing the loan paperwork and I remember to in that position and going through the forums with FAFSA every year and it just feels like smoke and mirrors because yes.
You do have to regurgitate what you've been told to prove that you've read it, but they don't care that it doesn't mean anything to you and that you don't understand terms like amortization fixed rate versus variable rate loans. Like, they just want to say, Oh, we did our job. We covered our bases. You check the boxes and you got all the questions.
Right? So, of course, you knew what you were signing up for. I know I'm getting a long winded now, but I would just say that predatory lending is acting in bad faith and taking advantage of someone's vulnerability to make a profit.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: thinking about, predatory lending and lending in general, what are some of the steps that listeners? Whether their parents who are thinking about, their kids going to college, or even listeners who are thinking about taking on loans, student loans, going back to school.
What are some of the things that we can do to protect ourselves from predatory lending.
Briana Franklin: I would say, speaking specifically to the black community, cause I'm a by product of a black household and black family and knowing what I've heard behind closed doors and in conversations with relatives and parents and so forth.
We have got to have more awareness that systems like this are preying upon us because No one in my family saw an issue with what happened to me until I started talking and speaking out against it. when I was signing up for that debt, first of all, they were so disillusioned by the fact that I was in an Ivy league school because I was the first one in my family to go to one.
And they just put so much stock into it and just were indifferent to the financial price tag. And everyone was just like, Oh, you're the first one to go Ivy. You know, you're The 1st, 1 to, get to this caliber, you'll be able to write your ticket. I remember people said that as though it was a daily ritual, like, oh, yeah, Dartmouth is going to give you so many opportunities and sure.
It has potential too, but that's not a hard, fast guarantee that they are promising when you matriculate. And so just seeing how. My family was just very much like, well, whatever it you know, to get that degree, if they're charging you 50, 000 a term, right? And if it's a million dollars in total, like, it'll be worth it because it was a degree.
And I feel like we've got to start with our mindset. because so many of us are used to owers and not owners that we are overly tolerant of debt and of loans. And we just resign to well, we'll never be able to pay for it in We'll never be able to afford it. We don't have money like that.
Money doesn't run in our family like that. So it is what it is and just playing into the hand of the folks who are all too happy. To take advantage of that. I mean, I think when people ask this question, they're expecting usually like some Dave Ramsey escalate hard and fast financial answer. And sure, there are our measures of that nature too.
But I think for us, we've got to start even before we talk about cents and dollars and writing checks about how we perceive. What the situation actually means because also our youth, right? Our children are rising college students like they don't want to disappoint. And I remember that was me too. And I didn't want to feel like a failure.
Like I was squandering an opportunity and against all common sense. I. Went completely along with it and ended up racking up that debt. And then I just felt like, oh, I wish that if I could do it all over again, I would have chosen Emory, which I'm from So, being in state, that was a huge leg up financially, and they were so much more generous with their tuition offerings that if I hadn't lifted a finger and worked a single day for all 4 years, I would have taken out 20, 000 dollars in loans across all 4 years.
So, 5K per school year. And it would have probably gone away within 2 to 5 years max, right? Just depending on what kind of job I got coming out. yeah, just in learning from experience. That's what I would recommend is start with the mindset.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: it's so profound what you said. you know, I, wrote about this actually in my book because, Coming from. The black community specifically, Speaking from experience, we are just not used to seeing it. So when we see the opportunity, we don't think about you talking about Ivy League, but even like sometimes we're the first one to go to college, right? So whatever it takes, we're not necessarily looking at the numbers.
And one of the things that I talk about in my book is, it's a good idea once you know what you're going to major in, to even look at, this is what the first year salary is going to look like. So you can start assessing whether all these loans that I'm considering taking are going to make sense.
there's just little things like that, that we don't necessarily think about, but like you said, it starts with the mindset. I know the prosperity project focuses on helping black women. Can you tell me why the focus on black women? know there's some, data around it, but listeners might not be familiar with it.
So if you can touch on that, that would be great.
Briana Franklin: Yes. So, there's me belonging to that community and just knowing firsthand what that's like, but the data totally supports it. So, 35 to free. it's rooted completely with intention. So 35 billion in student debt, that black woman's shoulder under the 2 trillion, just about umbrella, but then also having financial, you know, literacy rates that are somewhere around 35%, according to a study ran by GFLEC, the global financial literacy excellence center.
And that's a terrible combination because when you are saddled with debt and you don't have a ton of money coming in, nor do you have like a firm understanding of what it means to be a stored of your finances, how to invest, how much you should be earning from your portfolio, from your brokerage accounts, from your high yield savings rates, These concepts are unfortunately so foreign to a lot of us because again, it's like our parents did the best with what they had and that goes all the way and all the way and all the way back. at some point, though, like, we've got to be able to supplement for that. Not having, relatives and people we can just call up and say, Hey, Uncle Jim, can you help me open my 1st brokerage account at Schwab, you know, or just inheriting that wealth and then having that playbook already formulated for them.
It's like, we're trying to step in and. Solve for that piece, know, and just, of course, giving grace and understanding and we pride ourselves on being a space where black women don't feel like they have to downplay themselves or are going to have to worry about being shamed and berated and raked over the coals.
Right? Like, we know how it goes. And a of people, if they could do it all over again, wouldn't make the same mistakes, but that's why it's called a mistake. there's a number of factors that. Okay. Put black women in a especially rather compromised situation.
And so we're trying to, just basically help them catch up. Right. And you look at the illustrations for equity where they had the three people standing on boxes. it's like there's a quality, which is where they all get a box, but then the shortest person in the equity scenario gets three boxes so he can see and be at equal footing with his taller counterparts.
So that's effectively the same spirit is an equitable solution. Love that.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: And so in addition to providing education like financial literacy education to these women, read that you guys also help pay off debt, right? So can you talk more about that and who qualifies for that?
Briana Franklin: Yeah, so we are restructuring that piece actually. so I can talk about the way that it has worked because while we're still formulating the new vision, which will only get better, it's not like, we're going to say, oh, sorry. Guess what? Now we're only doing 500 dollars. like, we're hoping to make it more equitable and do more.
But since it's still alternative, I'll speak on what it has looked like so far. And we have, our pilot, which ran in 2022, we helped 12 extraordinary black women who are just doing. Saddle with student debt from varying degrees. So some had as low as 16 K others as much as almost 300, 000. we awarded retroactive scholarships of 10, 000 dollars per person across 8 months.
And, during 6 of those months, they also went through finco financial coaching, and then the last 8 weeks were seed of career development and basically the. crux of the program is to show that student debt relief is a means to an end and not the end itself because a lot of people are just so stuck on just getting out of debt.
yes, that is absolutely a great goal to set and it should be the focus for people so that they have that rain cloud over them for the rest of their lives. But it's also like. Let's just imagine for a second what happens when you do pay that last payment to Sally May or to FedLoan NetOnNet or whoever.
I mean, your goal surely isn't to just stay at zero, is it? Like, we don't want you to just settle for breaking even. We want to help you get abundantly into the positive. So that's why we're tying. Debt relief with training, right? And with stewardship guidance, so that we basically are setting these women up when they graduate to be like, all right, you've done this training wheels sort of through us.
So now it's time to take it from here and keep building and keep prospering. and so moving forward, like, we'll definitely be condensing the time of the program because it was conceived in the thick of cobit and. A lot of people have a lot more time on their hands to invest almost year in this, but we realize now that outside is back open and that's not the case anymore.
So it'll definitely be a shortened timeframe. And ideally, as we keep exploring corporate partnerships and being able to attract more funding, being able to increase how much we can offer per person. But as of right now, that's how the program is operated.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: So the pilot was in 2022, and obviously you are reassessing what it's going to look like going forward.
But I'm curious to know, of feedback have you had from the women who went through the program and how it impacted their wealth building journey?
Briana Franklin: from last year's group, we had a lot of, thankfully generous going reviews. I had someone write us in the top of this year and it was totally out of the blue and she was just like, Hey, happy holidays.
I just wanted to say this program changed my life, and I'm still using the tips and the tools from coach you land. That was the name of her coach that she worked with and she's like, it's just been great to put these things into practice. And she was even trying to go the extra mile. And. try out some credit card points tricks that her coach had taught her.
So that was of course, very gratifying and made all the dog days where we weren't doing so hot, very worth it. But then of course, know, in transparency, I think it's only fair to also talk about the criticism and not paint it one sided. And we have had some people who were, mostly disappointed, not so much in us, but because just didn't go as far for them, right? Because thinking on the Prosperettes who were in the one fifties, 200 to 90 range with their debt, in some cases, single moms. Debt to income ratio that was way out of whack, they were getting declined from mortgages and that impacted their ability to move into a neighborhood.
So their kids could start school and, better district, like, there was a domino effect. know, so their disappointment mostly was just in the fact that at the program, the needle was. More or less for them, right? Because 10 K against nearly 300, 000 dollars does not go nearly as far as it does for someone who's in, like, the 40 or 30 K range.
so that's really been something that we've taken, though, to our donors because we're like, look, y'all are the ones who have had the pedigree and you've been around and you basically print money, and also more to the institutions. but we're saying, there's real need here and.
We hear so many conversations about wealth redistribution and reparations. I'm like, this is the vehicle for that, know, because, you know, that it's incapable hands, you know, that it's being entrusted to folks who have lived this pain. So we, know how to avoid what we saw come out of the white house where there was like this whole cancellation announcement and then just for it to fall through the cracks.
but yeah, just mostly Needing more funding, but then also from this year's program, because this is our 1st time doing it hybrid where been based. We've made sure to base the prospects in a central location, because last year we were still somewhat behind closed doors from quarantine and a lot of folks were just spread out.
So, this year we've had them all in the D. M. V. D. C. Maryland, Virginia area and. the upsides, like people have said similar things that they've taken away a lot of great, valuable lessons and tips from their coaches. but for the downsides that at this point, they feel that. the 8 month stretch is a bit long and so that's where we got the idea to cut that in half.
But then we also tried out this year doing the retroactive scholarships as a match. know, just because. Being at the behest of a lot of donors, a lot of them were like, we want to see that these would have skin in the game. Yada. Yada. So we were like, okay, if we make the 10 K, basically saying, we will match you up to this amount towards what you put down.
it hasn't been going that well, you know, the prosperous, like our coaches or their coaches have been relaying to us. I get the spirit in which this was intended, but so and so. Is barely making ends meet and would be lucky to maybe put 500 dollars towards her loans, where she is.
that, of course, is heartbreaking. And so we, always use that to retool our strategy to sharpen up our pitches to, be able to. Make. The correlation a lot clearer for those who are on the outside of this issue and don't get why it's a crisis or why there is real financial need.
And then being able to say, look to this person, right? she's just another couple of paychecks from potentially being homeless. So, it's been a mixed bag, but this is exactly what we want to come out of it. You the good and the bad so that we can keep.
Thank you. Increasing our capacity and hopefully get it to a point where there's hardly, if any, criticism moving forward.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: So, for some of the dreamers who are listening and might be facing their own, challenges when it comes to that, not specifically student loan debt, but just that in general, what's the advice that you would have for
the people who are navigating through this journey. Yeah.
Briana Franklin: So, just in having been where you are for so long, and especially depending on how much you may have, if you're in that higher debt range, I've been there and I still am there. Like, I'm still trying to get out of these woods myself, but.
Just in learning what I have and, being 40, 000 less in debt than I was 4 years ago is, a huge blessing and I'm grateful to have made that kind of progress. But I think the key thing to remember is that you have to be the 1 to take and stay in control because. As we saw with the Biden Harris proposition, you just cannot put your faith in an entity like that to solve this problem.
Like, would be lovely to just trust and know like, yeah, since you all created the conditions for this by. No longer making student debt dischargeable through bankruptcy 20 years ago, that you should do the right thing and come clean this up. But unfortunately, even though these bad actors have finessed us and made it to where these things exist, it still is on us to take back that power and to, get to the other side of it.
So, I would just say having a plan like a stewardship plan, right? And just remembering that getting debt free is not. The complete angle in and of itself, know, that can be a goal to reaching the next 1, but, having that constant reinforcement and, you know, it's going to take discipline.
It might in some stages take sacrifice, but also. Don't look it as an all or nothing scenario, because I think that was a really big mistake. And just going back to that, lesson, I learned that not all debt is predatory or has been traumatic to people. get in touch with your debt tolerance, cause some people are like, I would love to be out of debt, but I also want to take some vacations.
Right. I mean, just know what you're signing up for. Like, it's Trying to start a fitness plan. If you are trying to drop 10, 20 percent body fat, first of all, make sure it's healthy to do so. But, just understand like what you eat and how you live your life and exercise plays a role.
And if you're comfortable with. It taking 2 years then you can go at a more moderate pace. But if you're like, no, I'm trying to be my fittest and my leanest and do it, within a year or within 8 months, then it's like, okay, we're not going out for ice cream every other day.
And we're not eating, more than our body can burn off in a day, like just keeping that in mind and just understanding that it is a journey. And, you do have to have, I guess, ground rules for how you're going to go about it and understand that it is a fluent journey. And may have worked for you earlier on may not serve you once you clear that 1st, 50000, and you need to get the next.
75, 000 or 100 or, there's a lot of things there, but I really say it just boils down to remaining in control, having a plan and being disciplined enough to follow it. I love that
Anne-Lyse Wealth: it's a reminder that personal finance is personal, right? So find the plan that works for you and along the way, if you need to make changes, go ahead and do that.
It's perfectly. Okay. Brianna, I always end the interview with a round of rapid fire questions. All right. So in five words or less describe what a wealthy life
Briana Franklin: looks like for you.
Financial freedom and time control.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: What is the best book you've read
Briana Franklin: recently? I've literally been on a reading spree and I've read about 25 since the year started, so it's hard to select one, but I would have to put it as how to get rich by Ramit Sethi. I'm tying it just because I can't let my homegirl go as well as Mind Your Money by Yaneli Espinel.
They were both excellent reads and just helped me really grow up and mature further in my financial philosophy and mindset.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: What is, one part of your daily routine you can't
Briana Franklin: live without? Morning worship. I'm very faith based and every single day, just starting with a sermon, from my home church, which is Mount Perrin in Atlanta, shout out Dr.
Cooper, thankfully for the internet, I get to log on and just watch. It's almost like my spiritual vitamin, know, I listen to it every day. And it just sets the tone and, keeps me focused on what matters most and keeping a clear head amid all of the drama that usually awaits throughout the rest of the day.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: What's your favorite financial tool?
Briana Franklin: I would say remit. So the author of how I will teach you to be rich. And then the show, how to get rich from it said he has a resource called a conscious spending plan. I've actually renamed my conscious stewardship plan, but it has been a game changer because the budget that I used to work out of was so tedious and agonizing.
And it just was trash, know, in retrospect, I'm like, wow, I thought I snapped when I created this and it is a complete waste of time because it his whole thing is like a budget looks back, but a conscious plan looks forward. So it's like, Owning your responsibility and your ownership of your money and then being responsible with it.
So using his plan and switching away from what I had going on has made a huge difference and just really made me feel a lot more empowered. So what do
Anne-Lyse Wealth: you want your legacy to
Briana Franklin: be? Someone who was. Inconceivably generous, just because, you being on the receiving end of, the philanthropy dynamic at this point.
Briana Franklin: I'll go ahead and say, like, we've been really disappointed by just lip service and people who come into the fold, seemingly very passionate. And then it's like. We've been ghosted right by people who have set out their mouths that they would give to the cause or that they would, do a certain favor or help us in some way.
And of course, we're never coming into this with an entitled. I expect attitude, but it's like, when you give in your word and when it seemingly was out of the goodness of your heart, it's really disappointing.
And moreover, it has implications for the people who really need the help. and actually having experienced that with know, someone who's supposed to be a donor, not that. Long ago that actually prompted me on the spot, right?My giving ground rules and I call them my giving like, God ground rules.
And, the 1st 1 is that I will always make that as a part of my monthly, financial plan. The 2nd, is that I will have a floor so that way know, I'm not just giving 5 dollars or 10 dollars, like, a really meaningful gift. once I'm at this point, it would be a 1000 dollars minimum for minor gifts, 10, 000 minimum for major gifts.
I came up with my funding priorities and taking a page out of, different foundations and institutions. just starting with those 3, I felt like, oh, my gosh, I can turn the tide on this.
Like, I can take back and I can do the things for the community that they need and that I will, follow through on. So I will never do. Lending, unless it's like a venture capital sort of situation, but in terms of just everyday philanthropy, I will not give out loans.
I only believe in money. And my ask to people is that they pay it forward to the next person.
Anne-Lyse Wealth:
Briana Franklin: Love
Anne-Lyse Wealth: that. Brianna, thank you for being a guest on the show. And, sharing your journey and insights. So please tell the dreamers where they can find you.
Briana Franklin: You can find us all over the internet.
So our website, we're spelled first of all, a little So instead of prosperity with an E, it's prosperity with an A. And we are at the prosperity project on Instagram, prosperity proj on what is now X, formerly Twitter. We are heavily, heavily active on LinkedIn. And as mentioned earlier, you can catch us on almost TV, trying to work away up to that point, but at least to start, we'll be having a digital series called undefeated that premieres Friday, October 6th, every Friday at noon Eastern.
So, definitely tune into the show. And we're hoping to also do some more audience engagement so that we can feature questions and input from different people, who would like to weigh in and, you share their stories. So, we're all about community. Come check us out.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: When can people watch the show
Briana Franklin: we are going to have it set up on LinkedIn live to begin with. So it's all very experimental right now. So we tested stream yard last week, we did a live event with Liz, Liz Liba, the author of I'm not yelling. So we're going to try to keep doing it on LinkedIn just because that's been where so much of our community has been and gravitated towards, but also probably having it available on YouTube for playback after we finished filming.
LinkedIn live to get started.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: thank you so much for coming on the show.
Briana Franklin: Thank you. Yeah, I'm so glad to have been in conversation with you and to have had the chance to tell my story and to bring, your audience into our matrix into our prosperity tribe. And just again, really grateful to have this opportunity to bring more awareness to issues like this.
That means so much to me and our team.
Anne-Lyse Wealth: Thank you.