WEALTHYU LLC

WealthyU Goal Model

Model: Tamika Smith

Tamika Smith is the daughter of Bahamian-Haitian immigrants, who created a career in multi-media using an entrepreneurial mindset as a way to chip away at mountains of college loan debt after graduating from Howard University with a journalism degree.

When I met Tamika she was at the crossroads of despair resulting from years of underearning after graduating from college at the height of the 2008 recession. In the coming months, I will be sharing some of the stories from my interviews on my new show, Get Wealthy! which airs on the Black Star Network. Thousands of women like Tamika have used a wealth acceleration framework of three foundational principles to eliminate debt, as well as increase the amount and return on their investments to find their way to financial success and security.

Principle #1: Mindset

For Tamika it began with making the mindset shift from “earner to owner.” “I had to basically become an entrepreneur,” Smith said. “I knew how to take the career that I wanted to be in and actually turn it into a brand.” The road to her career goals was not a straight arrow, though, due to the tens of thousands of dollars in college loans she had to repay. “I just kept pushing forward,” Smith said, working as many jobs as needed to clear her debt while staying focused on her career and financial goals.

Along her journey, Smith adopt a “wealthy outlook,” the foundation habit in our proprietary coaching method of adding value to others “So many of us move in the direction of: “What can you do for me?” “But understanding and moving in a space where you are serving people, then you start to understand your worth a bit more, because you’re filling a gap that others need,” Smith explained.

Principle #2: Strategy

Next, Tamika had to determine what specific levers she could pull that would help her get further faster. Using laser-focused speed and determination to knock out her college debt in record time by working several jobs at once, Smith also realized that having a well-thought-out strategy can work just as well in other areas of her life, such as creating her dream job.

Smith formulated her career strategy after being overlooked numerous times for promotions or new jobs in her media position. Instead of faulting herself, she took a hard look at her gifts and how she could present them to her employer in a unique way to demonstrate her value to them. Tamika created an electronic press kit that consisted of a portfolio of projects outside of the newsroom in radio, television and online, while highlighting how she could bring those resources to the news company. “I just took my resume and punched it up to another level,” she said. Although Smith didn’t get the job, her interview was so outstanding that company officials were compelled to create a job just for her.

With her new job came a higher salary, so Smith made a strategy in how to optimize her newfound windfall. “Don’t worry about how much you’re making, what you need is a process” to help grow your money, she said. Her strategy was to develop a habit of automating deposits into various accounts that were set up to help her achieve specific goals, i.e. paying debts, buying a car, or for investments.

However, it was Smith’s understanding her relationship with money that made it all work for her. “If you have roots where you are not understanding your emotional connections to money, then it doesn’t matter how much you’ll make,” she said.

Principle #3: Execution

Finally, after reflecting back on her early years of working numerous jobs to pay off massive college debt while also building substantial retirement and investment accounts, Smith realized that she had made a mindset shift from “income” to “wealth” as she turned her many jobs into income streams with specific purposes. Her magic formula was to direct income from each job to pay off a specific loan or debt, starting with the smaller ones, until she was debt free.

At the same time she was chipping away at her debt, Smith also built significant retirement investments beyond six-figures by taking advantage of employer-matched 401k and Roth IRA plans. Although she said she was apprehensive when starting her journey and setting a payoff deadline of January 1, 2021, Smith now admits that she feels empowered and “free for the first time in my life” once the debt load had been lifted.

Three Take-Aways from Tamika Smith’s Wealth Journey

Analyze: Smith realized that to pay off her college loan debt, she would need to make more income. She made a plan to monetize her skills through various jobs, as well as present her abilities to her employer that showed her value to the company.

Optimize: She established several accounts in which she allocated resources to each of her goals, whether it was paying off debt or saving.

Maximize: She accelerated her financial growth by taking advantage of her company’s benefits, such as employer matches on retirement or other investment plans.