359: How Mignon Francois Flipped Her Last $5 And Built A Cupcake Empire From The Ground Up

Whose values and definition of success are defining the path you’ve set out on?  This week we’re chatting with Brittany Dandy - an established producer, journalist and digital marketer who’s helped growing business owners and corporate giants like MTV, Google, Toyota tell mindful and profitable stories.

Brittany opens up on this episode about her journey as she navigates the trifecta between ambition, womanhood, and motherhood. She takes us along her own life journey as she navigates what it means to find success in career, womanhood, and motherhood. She shares why being a problem solver and planner has helped her remain positive along the journey as she navigates life’s twists and turns. 

This busy mom of two, is also the founder of Ode to Us Wellness, a unique resource hub for new moms and women considering motherhood. Offline, you can find her brunching around Brooklyn with her family, enjoying NYC's live music scene, or squeezing in a good workout.

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It's never too late to start over. Despite your age, life circumstances, or past...all you need to is turn within, question yourself, and start taking action.

This week we're chatting with Cheri Syphax - CEO of Phax Entertainment Group and co-owner of Booker's Restaurant and Bayou Lounge in West Philadelphia - who decided to turn a second act in her life- and start living boldly and abundantly!

So many of think we can’t reinvent ourselves…that we can’t start over…that what was…always has to be what is ..and that isn’t true. Today you'll learn how she was able to "start over." From getting out of a tumultuous relationship to moving across the country to a new city and eventually meeting her now husband - Cheri confidently shares her story of new love, new beginnings, and a new mission. Plus, she shares the steps we call can take to "start over" in our own lives.

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Freelance writer, editor, producer and on-camera correspondent Brande Victorian opens up about the peaks and valleys of her career as a journalist and what has kept her going through it all.

So honored to have Brande Victorian as a guest on the podcast this week. Brande was one of the first editors who believed in my written abilities back in the day when I wrote for MadameNoire after college. I've been following her career since and have been inspired by her moves from iOne to Essence…and now The Hollywood Reporter. Listen in as she gets real about the personal and professional breakthroughs she's had to have in order to continue to drive her dreams forward.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode include:

• The important of having confidence in herself
• What it was like being a leader within the black media space
• The Power of Being Enough
• Why Brande chose to leave her "Dream Job"
• Why Being Yourself will always be crucial
• The power of moving...and more

Brande's Bio:

Brande Victorian is a freelance writer, producer and on-camera correspondent known for authentic storytelling and viral, human-centered celebrity interviews. Prior to becoming a contributor for The Hollywood Reporter, she was the Senior Entertainment Editor at ESSENCE magazine and the Content Director of the Women’s Division at iOne Digital

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Odessa Jenkins shares how she is achieving her dream of dominating both on and off the field and helping other women find their way as well.

How did she do it? Meet Odessa "OJ" Jenkins - a successful tech/SAAS business executive, CEO of Bonfire Women, and founder of the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC). As a disrupter in sports, Jenkins has built one of the premier sports leagues in the country, creating opportunities, inclusion, and equity in football for women and girls.

Odessa shares her #dreamdriving journey and how she tapped into her inner strengths and powers - and how she is achieving her dream of dominating both on and off the field, in and out of the corporate board rooms - and helping other women find their way as well. 

More on Odessa: At 72-2, Jenkins is the winningest Head Coach in women’s tackle football history. She is a Hall of Famer, a 7x National Champion, a 2x USA Football Team captain, and a 3x Team USA Gold Medalist.

An in-demand global speaker/coach, Jenkins is also the founder of multiple nonprofits (Got Her Back). She is a recognized market leader in B2B SAAS tech, DE&I, and Team Dynamics with multiple years of executive leadership experience in privately funded start-ups, and Fortune 1,000 public companies. Jenkins previously served as President of the e-learning company Emtrain and served for several years as an executive leader at YourCause, a start-up that helped to revolutionize the Corporate Social Responsibility industry (exited to Blackbaud).

She was an inaugural participant in the NFL’s first Women’s Career in Football Forum and is one of the first women to obtain the coveted Bill Walsh Diversity Internship in an on-field position (Running Backs Coach – Atlanta Falcons). Featured on Fox, Sports Illustrated, CBS, ESPN, Yahoo Sports, NFL Network, The Undefeated, and more, Jenkins was recognized as one of the most influential and powerful women in sports by Sports Illustrated (Unrelenting) and voted as Culture in Sports 2022 Sports Leader of the Year and is a 2023 Recipient of The 2023 Leigh Steinberg Denicola Humanitarian Award.

ODESSA'S KEYS TO SUCCESS
1. Plan
2. Purpose
3. Resilience

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Blogger turned DJ - Ty Alexander - shares the journey that got her here, and why not being afraid to "do all the things" unleashed for her a new path to chasing joy and success. 

Four words: It's never too late.

2020 changed life as we know it for so many of us. For wellness blogger, author, speaker, and podcaster Ty Alexander - it rocked her life in a good way - unleashing for her the opportunity to pursue her interest in learning how to become a DJ - a passion that had been laying dormant within her, waiting for the right time to appear.

On this episode, Ty takes us along the #dreamdriving journey that got her to this moment. From teen mom, aspiring media star in New York City, successful influencer and blogger behind Gorgeous in Grey, author, podcaster, and now DJ - ready for all that's to come next.

Ty's story is one of "doing all the things", inspired by her dying mother who urged her to pursue everything while she still could. She shares the important lessons she's learned along the way and why it's so important for us dream drivers to show up as our authentic selves, chase joy and gratitude, and never let the idea that it's taking "too long" stop us from trying in the first place.

TY'S KEYS TO SUCCESS
1. Starting
2. Believing
3. Karma

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Learn the steps you can take in 2024 to be on the way to true financial freedom! Back in the guest chair is money expert Jamila Souffrant who will teach us dream drivers how we can cruise towards wealth and happiness as we tackle our #dreamdriving goals.

Jamila Souffrant is the author of the new book "Your Journey To Financial Freedom A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving Wealth and Happiness" and the host of the Journey To Launch podcast. She is considered a go- to thought leader in the personal finance field and her work has been featured in BuzzFeed, ESSENCE, Refinery 29, Money Magazine, CNBC, CBS, Business Insider and more.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode include:

• Jamila’s path to financial freedom and financial independence
• The changes Jamila made to become financially free
• Why Jamila defines herself as a millionaire
• The 5 Journeyer Stages you need to travel to in order to reach financial independence
• How to train your mindset and habits
• The deeper issues that may be limiting your ability to reach financial freedom
• The importance of investing in yourself

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"It's only crazy until it happens." In this throwback episode from 2022, we meet Paulana Lamonier - founder of Black People Will Swim, a purpose-driven organization working to smash the stereotype that Black people don’t swim.  Paulana's on a mission to open the first Black-owned swimming facility and she won't stop until the dream is complete. This is her journey, her story on how she's gotten to this point. Hop in, and welcome to the ride.

Note: Since this episode first went live last year, Paulana has accomplished even more with BPWS, but still this episode is still an important reminder about the power of never giving up!

More about Paulana:

After learning how to swim with the help of coaches in 2009 at CUNY York College, Paulana nurtured her love for swimming and became inspired to teach others how to conquer their fear of water. For over a decade, she has shared her passion for swimming by working with swim clubs, teams, and gyms to build a community with her students.

She's also a multimedia journalist who has made a career out of telling compelling stories. She's written for Fast Company, Forbes, Complex Magazine, and interviewed the likes of Queen Latifah, Loni Love, Venus Williams, and more.

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Instagram: @itspaulana

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When Georgia Dawkins entered college at Florida A&M University, she had dreams of working in media and being a journalism star. Over the course of a decade, those dreams came true. Still, though, a desire to pursue something more for herself remained. On this episode - this producer extraordinaire, author - and now comedian - details her journey to discovering her power, enlisting her natural gifts, and taking a risk on herself to explore new passions and dream.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode include:

• Church’s influence on her as a child
• Her dreams entering college at FAMU
• Lessons she's learned about herself
• Handing overwhelm in the newsroom 
• Why she decided to branch out into comedy
• Lessons learned growing as an entrepreneur
• Plans for the future and more...

More about Georgia:

Georgia Dawkins is an author, producer, and comedian. Using her imagination and media prowess Georgia creates content for networks that has never before been seen in the marketplace. This includes developing Sister Circle Live (TV One), a national talk show featuring four African-American female hosts. A first of its kind. With, The Black Agenda Live (The Grio), Georgia created a show dedicated to documenting the experiences and issues faced in the African-American community. Georgia also worked on the inaugural season of the true-crime series, Sins of the City (TV One).

Through comedy, she embraces her full identity as a Black Queer woman of faith. Her comedy journey started in 2020 at an open mic in Atlanta, GA. Since then, she has performed in Austin, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Philadelphia.

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Host Rana Campbell shares what you do can do the next time you feel like you're not at where you want to be in life. She also takes us down a quick trip down memory lane as she reflects on some of the stops she's made along this #dreamdriving journey.

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Meet Rackeda Roper, the Jamaican-born 27-year-old serial entrepreneur, Army veteran and visionary force behind Exquisite Enterprise - event staffing, event spaces and event rentals. Rackeda aka "Keda" shares her life journey from Jamaica to America and how an early knack for hustling and sales led her onto the entrepreneurial path within the events industry that has been filled with wins, losses, roadblocks, pivots , revelations and more. Rackeda opens up about the reality of taking risks and "learning as you go" and why she hasn't let the major business hurdles she's faced this year stop her belief in herself or her dreams. All lessons. No regrets.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode include:

• What it was like growing up in Jamaica
• Moving to Irvington, NJ as a teenager
• Early lessons about hustling
• Why she joined the Army National Guard
• Graduating college but never using her degree
• Leadership lessons learned during entrepreneurship
• The ups and down of acquiring her own commercial events space...and the wild year, business losses, and major that came next
• Getting arrested because of one of her events
• Future business endeavors...and more!

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