GlobalGrind’s financial coach, Lynn Richardson, had a sister-girl conversation with BET personality Alesha Renee (and host of “My Black is Beautiful) and here’s why she no longer focuses on money.
GG: After experiencing years of lack early in your career, what advice do you have for someone new coming in the entertainment game to do it right the first time?
Alesha: In my opinion, I don’t think there is a way to do it right the first time. I think the best have fallen short. What I tell people is don’t be afraid to fail. You should actually encourage yourself to fail, because how else are you going to learn how to do it right? When I talk to God, I bring my frustrations to Him, and the Bible says “laughter is good for the soul as medicine,” so for me to be able to make someone smile, or make someone feel better about their situation, especially being an actor in the business, that’s a blessing to me. It’s good for their soul and it’s good for my soul. It’s a ministry. So I always ask God to bless my ministry. So when you keep your mind focused on that, then the money goes to the background. When I first started, I was very young and new to a financial situation that I grew up thinking about. I never knew what it was like to go to the mall and buy something for my father, so yeah, I went through my phase of blowing my money. I went through my phase of not doing a speaking engagement if I wasn’t being paid for it. I think my mission was convoluted. It was partly because I felt like I was worthy to be paid, when you know what you’re bringing to the table, but it was mostly the financial aspect of it. But when you go through your financial pitfall, then you learn that God will give you your just reward. He will let people see your value and that you are worth this and that you should be honored and paid accordingly – but that’s not your focus. When you take the money away from being your focus and you just come from a pure place, people will want to honor you and want to employ you more and want to refer you for this and that. So people need to be open to failing and open to learning from those failures because that’s when your true character will show. Follow Alesha Renee on twitter @AleshaRenee
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Coach Lynn’s Money Message:
Don’t stop fighting for what you want, because when you do, what you DON’T want will take over and then you will have to fight that. Keep fighting for financial peace. Keep fighting to live below your means. Keep fighting for God to bless your talents and gifts for the benefit of the world around you and watch the blessing of abundance overtake your life.
