Global Grind’s financial coach, Lynn Richardson, had a sister-girl conversation with BET personality Alesha Renee (and host of “My Black is Beautiful) and here are her thoughts about money, business and family.
GG: So we’ve all heard stories of money getting in the way of family relationships and artists who have fired their family members . . . sometimes even their mothers. What are your thoughts about that?
Alesha: Oh, I did too . . . I have paperwork on my mom!! (as we burst into LAUGHTER!!) And it’s with every bit of love and it’s with every bit of respect, and it’s because I’ve seen the best of relationships go to hell in a breadbasket behind money, behind the prospect of money and it’s an unfortunate thing. It’s challenging because my mom was my manager at one time and I had to fire her – I was like ‘mom, this isn’t working’ – because you need to be able to have a certain type of conversation with your manager and you need to be able to express yourself in a certain type of way that, for me, being raised in the South, I can’t fathom talking to my mother like that. So I was like ‘we can’t do this!’ I’ve been fortunate, though, to have some key people provide services to me for free, but I am going to check resumes, double check references, and do my due diligence before I let them on my team and before they represent me in any way.
Back to my mom, we have some investments between the two of us right now that are going to be very profitable and I’m like, ‘mom, I love you enough, but we need to put this in writing.’ I think that across the board, when you’re doing business, first of all, it can be very challenging working with family professionally, because of these issues. But everything needs to be in writing. That’s one thing I’ve learned. I wanna see the paperwork. It sounds nice, but I wanna see what the paperwork is looking like! Follow Alesha Renee on twitter @AleshaRenee
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Coach Lynn’s Money Message:
Scripture says that plans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisers they succeed. It is important to have the right people on your team; some are there just for the money and others simply don’t fit the mold. And sometimes those who start with you can’t finish with you. Be alert and steadfast. Stay humble and know your purpose, but don’t be shy and moving people on and off of your team as you stay focused on the greater good of your mission.
