For today’s Digm Spot feature we are talking about the importance of your brand identity, how authenticity is the key to abundance and success, and why having faith in your abilities is important to achieving your dreams.

ASH: For today’s Digm Spot feature. We have Tashima Jones, who is a brand consultant with Extra Curricular Activities. She is an author, co-host producer, curator of creative events, and she hails from Harlem, New York City, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Marketing and graduated with honors from the university of Albany studying from other the likes of William D. Danko, New York Times best selling author of The Millionaire Next Door. She penned a book called Being Broke Made Me Rich, a memoir of her financial enlightenment and life journey thus far. Tashima believes that living authentically is the key to abundance and success. In 2006, she started Tashima Jones Media, a media and branding company, and has worked and collaborated with brands such as VH-1, Fader, Black Enterprise, Metro PCS, Ameriprise Financial Services, as well as many successful entrepreneurs.

ASH: It is exciting because I love to hear about marketing professionals, especially because this podcast is about inspiring and motivating people. With marketing, it’s about how do you present yourself to the world. So, I want to start there. What attracted you to marketing?

TASHIMA: Well, part of what you just said, how you present yourself to the world. I’ve arrived to that point in my life where I was like this is what I want to do. It’s in me, whether I’m in a classroom or at home. I pursued it, and I pursued it with all of my heart. I realized it after studying business that everything after creating a product or service had to do with marketing. Everything is about how you are preparing your audience to receive this product or service. So again, marketing is a fantastic world where you can express yourself in so many different realms.

ASH: Absolutely. One of your specialties is helping brands find their identity. Why is that important?

TASHIMA: Finding your identity, I think on a personal level and on a business level, is really, really important. When you think about marketing, you have to first have a message? You have to know what message you want to give off before actually putting that message out there. Knowing yourself, knowing your product, knowing your service, knowing your company, all start with your identity. Who are you? What is your purpose? What is your vision? What is your mission? You cannot communicate an idea if you have no idea what that idea is. So, when it comes to branding, you have to really think about how do I want to connect with my audience. It all starts with knowing who you are, and your intention of what it is that you are doing. So, it’s important because you have to convey a message. You have to convey a purpose. You have to create this vision that connects with someone.

ASH: Imentioned earlier in your bio that you believe that living authentically is the key to abundance and success. Can you talk about that a little further?

TASHIMA: I love the way this is flowing. Because when you are authentic, you know who you are. You know your brand identity, whether it’s a personal brand, professional brand, whatever it maybe. I always say personal and professional because all have brands. Every social media post that you create is telling people who you are as a person, who you are as a company. So, whether you like it or not, you are a brand. So. when you are living authentically, meaning you have a true sense of who you are, and you have a true sense of the energy that you’re putting out into the universe, and you have a true sense of your mission and your vision. That is living life authentically and unapologetically. I believe that that is the key to abundance and success because nobody can beat you at being you. When you are who you are, again, unapologetic about it and truthful with it, there’s certain things that are lined up specifically just for you. At one point in my life, I’ve truly believed I was walking in the footsteps of someone else. So, everything that that person was supposed to receive, I received it. But because it wasn’t my true self, it didn’t feel right. The shoes really didn’t fit. When I finally woke up and decided to say, “Hey, who am I, and where am I going?” Once I started doing that, everything literally fell into place. Not only did I become a happier and more fulfilled person, I started to really discover what I wanted out of life and things became clearer to me. I was able to make moves that felt right, even when I didn’t see them working out at that moment. I knew inside of myself that this was for me and I’m not going to stop until I get it. Being authentic not only gives you clarity in where you should go in life, it also opens up this world of abundance. Because everything that is created for you, you will receive when you are living in that space of authenticity.

ASH: You also mentioned you had an encounter with William D. Danko, New York Times best selling author of The Millionaire Next Door, which in fact actually changed my life and made me focus more on how I managed my finances. How did that encounter change you?

TASHIMA: I have to mention that prior to even making the connection between him being an author and also being my professor, I had no idea who I was speaking to. I had no idea about it. So, there was one moment in time where I had to go into this office, have this conversation about an exam or some project that I missed. I was trying to come up with this reasonable excuse for missing it. When I sat down in front of him, he started to talk to me about faith. He started to talk to me about who am I and my identity and where is it that I wanted my life to go, which direction I wanted my life to go into. For him to be a male and not look anything like me, he really spoke to where I was at that place in my life, even when I didn’t realize it. So, experiencing him as a professor and then having that private conversation, it impacted me because a man who wrote a book about The Millionaire Next Door, a New York Times best seller by the way. For him to talk to me about faith and link that to my finances and to success in life, I never heard that. Being in the school of business, you kind of learn these tips and tools and principles that are specific to business. So, for him to relate success to faith and your identity, it really, really changed my mind. Because not only did it confirm some of the things that I already believed, I also think it opened my world up to this thing potentially being real and let me give it a try. Let me discover who I am. Let me live in my truth and see what happens. So, finding out that he wrote this book that has changed so many people’s lives and it was related to finances, it encouraged me. It gave me clarity, as to where I was going. It let me know that I was on the right path of believing in the things that I did not see, and also being able to manifest the abundance that I desired to have in my heart.

ASH: What excites you about the work that you do?

TASHIMA: The exciting thing about my work is not only seeing something go from just an idea to an actual product or service or marketing campaign or event, the amazing thing is actually in the future when I work with amazing people, people who are starting up and those who are well-known. I always reference Spike Lee’s movies. Like, when he came out with the movie way back when, you saw so… like, the people that we see today started with him. Just being able to be a part of a movement, being able to be a part of other people’s dreams coming true and seeing the progress of when we first started to work together until a year later, or five years later, ten years. From that moment, being able to kind of see into the future, I get so excited about it because I love being a part of other people’s journeys. I love assisting people in building their brand and building their companies. So, seeing that idea come from nothing to something and then imagine what it will be in the future is one of the most exhilarating moments that I experience in what I do.

ASH: What advice would you give to anyone who wanted to get into your line of business?

TASHIMA: The greatest piece of advice that I would give is to not be afraid to think for yourself. I was always textbook smart, and I could memorize the principles and marketing terms and business ideas. But, I was afraid to do it my way. I think that’s very important is to really look inside yourself and say, okay, I’ve seen it done this way. I’ve researched how it has happened in the past, but what do I want to do? How do I want to brand this person or this company? How do I want to market and promote this product or service? Not being afraid to think out of the box, and at the same time educating yourself on your industry, being aware of common principles, being aware of common trend, but always adding a little or a lot a bit of who you are. Maybe, because I think that is what sets us apart, you know. People say how are you unique? You’re unique simply by being you and you don’t have to go very far to find that out. But, I think so many people are afraid to be their true selves because of how it’s been done and how successful it’s been the way somebody else has done it. But, it can be just as successful the way you choose to do it. So, definitely educating yourself on current trends and principles, but also putting your twist on it and not being afraid to do it how you would like to see it done.

ASH: What advice would you give to anyone who is pursing their dreams?

TASHIMA: I think so often we wait for this “perfect” moment, or perfect timing, when in actuality the perfect time is now. So, I would definitely say live in that moment and live in that space of now, and just doing it starting where you are. You don’t have to wait to have a certain amount of money. You don’t have to wait to know the “right” people. You just have to start with what you have and where you are. Being faithful in that space and allowing yourself to learn what it is that you have to learn in that season of your life, and build from there. So, literally, taking everything that you have and all that you know and really focusing on what it is that you want, starting there and then taking it day by day moving forward. Everything else will come once you start.

ASH: Tashima Jones, marketing and brand specialist giving us some words of wisdom.

Here are the key takeaways:

• Know your brand identity. Knowing who you are and what message you are trying to convey to your audience is a key component to marketing.

• Live authentically. Living authentically is the key to abundance and success because you are a unique being and no one can ever do what you can do. Being authentic allows you to walk in your purpose.

• Don’t be afraid to think for yourself. Even though things have been done successfully in the past, doesn’t mean you have to do them the exact way. Add your uniqueness to the mix and think outside of the box.

• Live in the moment of now. You do not have to wait for circumstances. You do not have to wait for the perfect moment. The perfect moment is now. In order to fulfill your dreams and to reach your goals, you have to be able to start where you are and be unapologetically you and do what you can do at the moment to maximize your full potential.

If you’d like to get in touch with Tashima, you can contact her on her website at www.TashimaJones.com. He’s also on Twitter at twitter.com/TashimaJones and Instagram at www.instagram.com/tashimajonesmedia/.

Interested in being interviewed to be featured on the Digm Spot? Email Ash at ashcash@paradigmmoney.com.

For today’s Digm Spot feature we are talking about how liabilities can be assets, why it’s important to be connected to your work, and how having thick skin can help you on your road to success.

ASH: I am excited about this guest that we have today. You know, if you’re a fan of this show, you know that every guest that I have on I’m excited about. That’s because we want to bring you the best of the best. But, I am extra excited about this guy because he is a mover and shaker. He’s making great things happen at such a young age. So, we have Karim Abouelnaga on the line with us. He is an Ivy League educated inner city public school graduate. He received over 300 thousand dollars in scholarships to make his education possible. He found that practice makes perfect at 18 years young. Practice makes perfect, or PMP, is an evidence based full service summer school operator for K thru 8 schools that uses a unique near peer learning model to drive students’ outcomes. PMP was founded in 2010, and has served more than 2 thousand inner city children across New York City. Karim also writes for Entrepreneur Magazine as an echoing green fellow, global shaper. At age 23, he was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in education, and at 24 was named to Magic Johnson’s 32 under 32 list. In 2016, he was ranked in the top five most powerful entrepreneurs under 25 in the world by Rich Topia. Ladies and gentlemen, round of applause for Mr. Karim Abouelnaga.

ASH: You started your company six years ago when you were only 18 years old while attending Cornell University. You managed to graduate in the top 10 percent of your class, and turned down Wall Street job offers to continue building your company. What was the inspiration behind this decision?

KARIM: So, I mean, I didn’t grow up with a lot honestly. I found myself in places of privilege, and realized that in the process of attending my own education that there were disparities in the opportunities that were given to kids I was growing up with. I was raised in a lower income neighborhood. Most of my friends didn’t see college as an opportunity to do something bigger. It was almost too late when they got to an age and they realized college is their only way out of the hood where we were growing up. So, I didn’t necessarily think I was building a large company at the time. I wanted to do something to pay it forward and give back. Though I didn’t have much, I knew I had a lot more than the kids I was growing up with back home just because of the university I was at. When I found myself on Wall Street, I still remember this. I did my first year at Goldman Sachs, my sophomore and junior year in college doing investment banking, and then my junior year at Black Rock. In that year, they told us there were a hundred students in our intern class. There were ten thousand who applied, and I was the only African American male in the class. That one of the biggest frustrations, or eye-opening moments, in my development where I realized that some of my peers aren’t going up and getting the education that they need to be in these environments. So, how can we start to change things if we can’t even access the capital or the wealth that exists? The emphasis for starting my company was really to create a pipeline. More kids just like me, giving them the opportunity to be able to go back and really improve our communities and the financial resources that we need to create long lasting change.

ASH: Absolutely. What was the most difficult part of starting a business at such a young age?

KARIM: I mean, starting a business at a young age is hard. I think there were other barriers for me just because I was raised by a single mother on government aid. One big hurdle to any business that you’re starting is having access to capital. When you’re poor that doesn’t exactly set you up for success either. So, I realized that, you know, those liabilities in so many ways could also be seen as assets. Because we didn’t have a lot of money, or I didn’t have a lot of money when I was starting out, I started to think about well what are ways that we can do this a lot cheaper. How can we bootstrap? How can we learn what is famously called today a lean startup, where you’re iterating and testing your projects without actually having to bring it to life right away at full scale? And then, with being a young person, I mean, people just, when you start talking to them, assume you don’t have what it takes, or you’re impatient. All the stereotypes of being young, and then add the stereotypes in there of being in college, where most college kids aren’t responsible or there just seems like a solo cup. That’s the image you get of a college student. So, I was overcoming a bunch of hurdles on that end. But at the same time, the bar was low, right. So, whenever the bar is low, all you have to do is meet expectations or achieve them by a little bit and it seems like you’re doing something incredible. So, in my case, because I had been working at such a young age, I had a little professionalism that I approached this work with. It kind of set me apart from so many kids who were my age when I was starting the business.

ASH: Wow. That’s great insight. I could imagine, you know, being young, or even just anybody running a business, that there are days that you have some ups and downs. How do you keep yourself motivated on those days where you feel down?

KARIM: So, when you’re starting a business, one of the things you realize really early on is that the success of your business drives how well you feel. When your business is struggling, it takes an emotional toll on you. If your business is doing poorly, you feel like you’re not doing great. You’re not in a good mood. If your business is doing really well, you feel like you’re doing great, even though those two things shouldn’t be interrelated. One of the things I realized really early on was that the entrepreneurship like lifecycle sort of looked like a Sin curve. So, sin curves are just like oscillating waves that go up and down continuously. If you take that image and you squeeze it and then you tilt it to the left a little bit, so that way the line is pointing up. I was like that was the entrepreneurship curve or journey. 98 percent of the time you’re either on your way up or on your way down. Then 1 percent of the time, you’re all the way at the top. One percent of the time, you’re going to feel like you’re all the way at the bottom. You need to be humble and have that humility when you’re at the top, so you can muster through the bottom and have what it takes to actually get through it. I mean, the other piece is that you start to realize that this is a cycle, and this is the process. Knowing what they journey looks like makes it a lot easier to bear through the down moment. If you stop, you’re never going to get back to that moment where you’re starting to go back up. So, having that perspective and having that in hindsight is [indiscernible] just to drive me. The other piece, for me, is the work I’m doing is just so personal. So, I run an educational company that focuses on providing opportunities for low income kids who grew up just like me. I know that without those interventions that we’re providing that their life prospects aren’t going to be what they could potentially be. Ultimately, kids aren’t living up to their fullest potential. It’s because they aren’t given the opportunities that they deserve in so many communities that need it most. So, knowing what I have, knowing the privilege and the blessings that I’ve been able to achieve at such a young age continues to drive me to provide those opportunities. There’s just so many kids who are growing up just like me.

ASH: Wow. Powerful stuff. I’ll be honest, Karim, right. Most 24-year-olds I know, they’re just starting out on their careers. But, you are already running a million-dollar business. By many accords, you are super successful. But with you being so young, how do you balance out staying focused on your business, but not missing out on your youth?

KARIM: I’ve never actually thought about, like, the youth I’m missing out on. I know when I was coming out of college I was taking on a lot of responsibility by starting a company, but I was already taking on that responsibility growing up in a low-income household. I’ve been, like, working off the books since I was 12 or 13, and then have consistently had jobs since then helping pay for the rent or whatever it may have been at home. So, I’ve always had responsibilities that kids my age didn’t have. I think those things never stopped me from being a teenager. They never stopped me from being a college student. I made sure that the things that were important to me I was still doing. I mean, it’s crazy and it’s surreal, like, today my company process close to a quarter million-dollar payroll. It’s one of those things that you see in your life, wow. Every two weeks, you’re profiting quarter million dollars. Now, like, you’re adding value. That means that in and of itself, like, inspires progress for me. So, I make sure that I’m carving off the time for the things and the people that are important to me. Make sure that I’m taking two and sometimes three vacations a year. I’m hanging out with my friends. I love to play ball, so I play basketball on the weekends. I prioritize my health. I make sure I’m in the gym and I’m working out. I’m doing the fun things, and I have the resources to do them that I ultimately didn’t have when I was a kid. So, the other piece of all of this that I think is really cool and sometimes underrated is that you get to build a company that has a culture that you sort of want in it. I can tell you right now the oldest employee in my company is, like, 29. So, I’m building a cool work environment where people just naturally are younger, and we do things that younger people do. So, I don’t feel like I’m missing out by any stretch of the imagination.

ASH: Now I want to kind of dig into your reading habits. What is the last book you read, and what important takeaways can you give us?

KARIM: So, I actually stopped reading books. I listen to everything on Audible, as funny as that sounds. I feel like listening to them, you can up the speed a little bit, and you can listen while you’re moving. I listen to all my books in the morning on my way to work and on my way back. The last book that I read was Bringing Out the Best in People. It’s by Aubrey Daniels. I think one of the… like, the most important takeaway from that book is that management should be done through positive reinforcement. I think too many times you try to manage people out of fear. We try to use and share what the negative consequences can be or scare tactics and what the outcome could look like if we don’t achieve this certain goal, or whatever it may be. A lot of management is actually rooted in psychology. How do we use human psychology to shape positive behavior? How do you avoid negative reinforcement in a way, or in a light, that ultimately like doesn’t drive success or drive outcomes for you? It seems like a very simple concept, but mind blowing how many people actually don’t use it.

ASH: All right, you’ve given us a lot of great insight. I’m sad to say this is the last question, right. What advice would you give to anyone who’s pursuing their dream?

KARIM: Yeah, I mean, get thick skin. I feel like it’s hard to say that and to understand it, but not everyone does take the leap of faith that they need to be able to live out their dreams. In the process of doing that, you’re going to find a level of, like, inner peace that doesn’t exist if you’re not doing it. People who want to do it but are empty or don’t have what it takes internally, may or may not like you for that. There’s going to be a lot of setbacks on your road to success and living out the ideal dream or life that you want. There’s going to be a lot of naysayers, a lot of doubters. But, believe me, it’s possible. It’s doable, you know. I’m 24 running a multi-million-dollar business now, and started with almost nothing. But, in the heat of everything that we were doing, having thick skin was one of the most important things. Because from day one, people have said that what we are doing and what we’ve achieved so far just wasn’t possible. That I wasn’t the right person, and that I didn’t have what it takes, and my team wasn’t good enough. They were too young. All of those people who just should’ve, they want to be in your shoes. They want to be in your place but don’t have what it takes to make the leap of faith to actually live off their dreams and pursue their aspirations, so have thick skin.

ASH: So, there you have it, Karim Abouelnaga, founder and CEO of Practice makes Perfect.

Here are some key takeaways:

• In order to run a successful business, you will need access to capital. Sometimes not having that access can be a liability but it can also be an asset because knowing that will allow you to run a lean business and focus on the things that you need to focus on in order to make your business thrive.

• Be humble when you’re at the top, and confident when you’re at the bottom. This is important to realize because the cycle of being an entrepreneur has its ups and downs. So, if you are conscious of which cycle you’re currently at, it will allow you to continue to keep going and get done what you need to get done.

• Do work you love and be connected to your work. Doing this gives you the motivation to keep going when those times you feel unmotivated or those times when you aren’t at the bottom. So, make sure you’re loving work.

• If you design your own life, you don’t have to compromise on the things that are important to you.

• Have thick skin. There are many people who are going to resent the fact that you are living out your dreams. They are going to resent the fact that you are taking that leap of faith, so have thick skin. They may tell you that you can’t do it. They may try to stand in your way. But, ultimately, only you can stop you. It’s how you view what they say and that power and energy you give to it that will allow it to affect you. So, have thick skin. Know what you were put here to do. Do it the best that you can do it. Never let anyone stop you.

If you’d like to get in touch with Karim, you can contact him on his website at www.KarimAbouelnaga.com. He’s also on Twitter at twitter.com/KarimAbouelnaga and Instagram at www.instagram.com/karim_abouelnaga/.

Interested in being interviewed to be featured on the Digm Spot? Email Ash at ashcash@paradigmmoney.com.