Brown Ambition

What if getting ahead didn’t require you to outwork, outperform, or out-hustle everyone around you?

This week, we’re revisiting Mandi's  conversation with leadership and inclusion strategist Ruchika T. Malhotra — author of Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Radical Success. In a world obsessed with winning, Ruchika’s message is a breath of fresh air: true success comes from rest, collaboration, and community not from constant competition.

Together, they unpack the toxic myth that somebody else’s win has to mean your loss—and offer a more sustainable path to ambition rooted in community, self-trust, rest, and collaboration.

They also get real about career comparison, envy, burnout, anxiety, and the pressure to keep proving yourself in a world that constantly tells women to do more. If you’ve ever watched someone else land the opportunity you wanted and immediately wondered whether you need to work harder, be better, or push yourself past your limits, this episode is for you.

📘 About the Guest

Ruchika T. Malhotra (she/her) is a globally recognized inclusion strategist, speaker, and founder of CANDOR, a consulting practice helping organizations build equitable and inclusive workplaces. Her latest book, Uncompete, challenges the myth that success must come from rivalry and invites us to build from a place of joy, rest, and abundance.

Follow Ruchika:

• Instagram: @rtulshyan
• Website: ruchikatulshyan.com

📚 Resources Mentioned

• Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Radical Success — available November 4

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Brown Buzz, Mandi Money is breaking down the headlines shaping our money, careers, culture, and everyday lives. First up, LeBron James’s reported $15 million partnership with Polymarket raises questions about the growing popularity of prediction markets and how these platforms are marketed to people who may already feel financially behind. Mandi explains how prediction markets work, why the line between trading and gambling deserves a closer look, and what you should know about protecting your money if you use these apps.

Then, Mandi celebrates some major Black business wins, including Carol’s Daughter founder Lisa Price returning to an ownership role in the brand she built from her Brooklyn kitchen. She also dives into the Ebony Power 100 list and shares a reminder for anyone who has ever felt overlooked: someone else’s recognition is not evidence that your work is small.

Plus, Mandi breaks down what rising home heating costs could mean for your winter budget, gives CultureCon founder Imani Ellis her flowers for responding to attendee feedback, and celebrates authors Tayari Jones and Julie Leung for their literary accomplishments.

In this episode, we discuss:

• LeBron James and the prediction market boom: What Polymarket is, how these platforms work, and why celebrity endorsements can make risky financial products feel more legitimate.

• When betting gets dressed up as investing: The potential risks of prediction markets, crypto security concerns, and why these apps should never be treated as a savings plan or side hustle.

• Lisa Price and the return to Carol’s Daughter: What her return to an ownership role means for the founder of a pioneering Black beauty brand and the legacy she built.

• The Ebony Power 100 list: Celebrating Black excellence without allowing industry awards and recognition to determine your sense of accomplishment.

• Winter heating costs: What projected increases in home heating expenses could mean for your household budget, plus practical ways to reduce energy costs.

• CultureCon and founder accountability: Why Mandi is giving Imani Ellis and her team credit for listening to attendee feedback and making changes.

• A Brown Boost for Black and women authors: Celebrating Tayari Jones’s literary achievement with Kin and Julie Leung’s work as a children's book author.

Resources and reminders:

• If you use prediction market apps, enable two-factor authentication, use unique passwords, and never keep rent money or emergency savings in a betting account.

• Explore ways to lower your winter energy bills, including weatherstripping doors and windows, sealing drafts, and improving attic insulation.

• Remember: your work matters even when the spotlight hasn't found you yet.

Listener question CTA

Have a money or career question for a future Brown Buzz? Email [email protected] or send a DM to @brownambitionpodcast.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you grow up knowing what it feels like to not have enough money?

For La La Anthony, that feeling became part of the fuel behind her ambition. Raised by a single mom, La La learned early that she wanted to build a life where she could take care of herself and never have to feel guilty about asking for money. That independent spirit eventually took her from an unpaid radio internship at 16 to a career spanning radio, acting, producing, entrepreneurship, fashion, and philanthropy.

In this episode of Brown Ambition, Mandi Money sits down with La La to talk about the money lessons she had to learn the hard way, from spending her first paychecks on things that made her look successful to negotiating an $80,000 salary at just 18 without a lawyer or agent. La La gets candid about what it took to understand her worth, why she believes you have to stay involved in your finances even when you have financial professionals managing your money, and why asking questions is a critical part of becoming financially literate.

Mandi and La La also talk about building wealth as a Black entrepreneur, the importance of access and capital for Black and brown founders, and La La's growing interest in supporting innovative businesses. Plus, La La opens up about raising her son Kiyan to understand the importance of paying attention to his money from a young age, and the ongoing challenge of learning how to balance a relentless work ethic with rest, family, and actually enjoying the life she's worked so hard to build.

In this episode, we get into:

• How growing up without much money shaped La La's entrepreneurial spirit
• The lessons she learned from her first paychecks and early money mistakes
• Why knowing your worth matters when negotiating your salary and contracts
• The importance of being actively involved in your finances, even when you have a financial team
• Why financial literacy also means being willing to admit what you don't know
• Supporting Black and brown founders who don't have easy access to startup capital
• Teaching the next generation about saving, investing, and financial responsibility
• The tension between ambition, work ethic, motherhood, and making time to actually live
• Learning to give yourself grace when you're figuring it all out

La La's biggest money lesson? Give yourself grace. None of us get a roadmap for being an entrepreneur, a parent, an employee, or simply trying to build a life that feels good. We're all learning as we go.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Brown Buzz, we’re cutting through the headlines and getting into the stories that affect our money, careers, and lives.

First, Mandi discusses the allegations involving Cornell and LSU, why Title IX is not the same thing as a criminal investigation, and what students and survivors should know if they want to explore a report to law enforcement.

TW: From  02:21 - 11:05 this episode includes discussion of SA.

Then, we get practical:

• The career skill employers say matters most in an AI-powered workplace

• Why more buyers are considering adjustable-rate mortgages—and the questions to ask before you sign

• A listener inherits more than $100,000 from her great-aunt: Should she pay debt, save it, invest it, or spend a little to honor her aunt?

• Why $100,000 invested at a hypothetical 7% annual return could grow to nearly $1.5 million over 40 years, before taxes, fees, inflation, or investment volatility

Plus, Mandi gives Alexis Nikole Nelson—the Black Forager—her Brown Boost after Alexis’s cookbook, Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!, lands on the New York Times bestseller list.

In this episode

• Cornell and LSU: What the reporting raises about campus accountability and Title IX

• How a Title IX process differs from reporting to campus or local police

• RAINN resources for support and reporting options

• IBM’s survey on critical thinking and discernment in the AI workplace

• Fixed-rate mortgages vs. adjustable-rate mortgages

• How to handle a $100,000 inheritance without rushing into a decision

• Emergency funds, high-interest debt, investing, and getting flat-fee financial advice

• Brown Boost: Alexis Nikole Nelson, the Black Forager

Resources mentioned

• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673)

• RAINN: rainn.org

• Alexis Nikole Nelson / The Black Forager: Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!

• Listen to Mandi’s interview with Alexis Nikole Nelson in the previous Brown Ambition episode.

Listener question CTA

Have a money or career question for a future Brown Buzz? Email [email protected] or send a DM to @brownambitionpodcast.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when the thing that makes you feel most like yourself doesn’t fit neatly into the version of success you were raised to pursue?

For Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka The Black Forager, that question has shaped nearly every chapter of her life. From growing up as a curious, outdoorsy kid who learned about plants in her mother’s garden to studying environmental science and theater, working in marketing, and eventually building a community of millions around her love of foraging, Alexis has never really fit into just one box. And that’s exactly the point.

In this episode, Alexis joins Brown Ambition to talk about building a life and business that makes room for all of her interests, identities, and curiosities. She shares how her mother introduced her to foraging as a child, why she initially kept her love of plants and the outdoors to herself, and what it took to stop suppressing the parts of herself that didn’t fit other people’s expectations of Blackness, femininity, or success.

Mandi and Alexis also get into the less whimsical side of turning a passion into a business, from navigating taxes and forming an LLC to saying no to brand deals, managing burnout, and learning how to treat your creativity like a business without losing the joy that made you love it in the first place. They also talk about connecting with Black ancestry through food and the land, the importance of curiosity in adulthood, and why getting to know the world around us can make our lives feel a little more magical.

In this episode, we get into:

• Growing up with a mother who was a Black corporate leader and finding connection with her through gardening and the outdoors

• How Alexis discovered foraging at five years old and never really stopped being curious about plants

• The pressure to pursue a traditional, “successful” career and what happened when Alexis realized environmental engineering wasn’t for her

• Going from environmental science and theater to marketing and eventually becoming a full-time creator

• Why Alexis chose the name Black Forager and the importance of making Blackness visible in spaces where it hasn’t always been expected

• Challenging narrow ideas about Black femininity, identity, hobbies, and what Black people are “supposed” to be interested in

• Finding a deeper connection to Black history and ancestry through plants, gardening, and the land

• The complicated history of Black people and the outdoors and what it means to reclaim those spaces

• What happens when your hobby becomes your livelihood, including burnout and the pressure to always create

• Building a business around your personality without losing yourself in the process

• Why curiosity is a muscle we have to keep exercising, especially as adults

• Making everyday life more magical by getting to know the natural world around us

• Giving yourself permission to be playful, weird, creative, and fully yourself

• Alexis’ new cookbook, Happy Snacking, Don’t Die, and the community that helped bring it to life

Plus, Alexis shares a few beginner-friendly foraging tips, the plant she thinks we should stop calling a weed, why we might want to rethink our relationship with black walnuts, and her official ranking of some very whimsical activities.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brown Buzz is back! Mandi breaks down the Nikole Hannah-Jones school-choice debate, the latest in the Nolan Wells case, why the AI job apocalypse may be more complicated than it sounds, and what SAVE borrowers need to do now.

In this episode
•    Nikole Hannah-Jones, school segregation, and the emotional cost of impossible parenting choices
•    Why repair and accountability matter after harm
•    The latest in the Nolan Wells case
•    The AI “boomerang” trend and how to strengthen your career resilience
•    What SAVE borrowers need to do now
•    Kennedy Ryan’s major adaptation news

BA Fam action steps
•    Parents: Review what your child is bringing home from school, ask questions, document concerns, and organize with other families when systems are not meeting students’ needs.
•    Workers: Update your résumé with business outcomes, build fluency with the AI tools relevant to your industry.
•    SAVE borrowers: Check your StudentAid.gov and loan-servicer accounts, find your individual transition deadline, compare repayment options, and submit an application before that deadline.

RESOURCES:

• Explore federal income-driven repayment options
• SAVE-plan transition information
• 🎁 FREE LINK to "In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? By Nikole Hannah-Jones

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Mandi sits down with Dr. Tasneem “Dr. Taz” Bhatia, a board-certified physician and integrative medicine expert, to talk about women’s health, hormones, healthcare, and what it really means to advocate for yourself. Dr. Taz shares her own experience of becoming a doctor who became the patient after struggling with fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, hair loss, and other symptoms that were initially dismissed as stress.

She also explains how her journey into integrative medicine changed the way she thinks about gut health, hormones, nutrition, stress, supplements, and preventive healthcare—and why women need to understand their bodies instead of simply accepting that feeling bad is “normal.”

But this conversation goes beyond health. Dr. Taz opens up about building her healthcare business from two rooms in her husband’s dental office, bootstrapping her businesses, navigating money with her husband, and eventually bringing her clinics, supplements, digital platform, and other ventures together under Whole Plus.

In this episode:

• Why women need to stop normalizing exhaustion, brain fog, weight gain, and other health symptoms

• Dr. Taz’s experience of becoming a doctor who became the patient

• The connection between stress, gut health, hormones, and overall wellness

• What women in their 30s and 40s should know about hormone health

• Understanding thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, insulin, and other health markers

• How to become a better advocate for yourself at the doctor’s office

• Why your medical appointment should be treated like a business meeting

• The difference between conventional, functional, and integrative medicine

• What to know before adding supplements to your routine

• Why supplements shouldn’t simply be chosen because they’re trending

• How preventive and proactive healthcare can change the way we approach wellness

• The financial realities of accessing personalized and integrative healthcare

• Why healthcare providers need more time with patients

• How Dr. Taz built her first practice while still working in the ER

• Bootstrapping a healthcare business and betting on yourself

• How Dr. Taz and her husband navigated money, business, and entrepreneurship together

• The evolution of Dr. Taz’s businesses into Whole Plus

• Why women need to make time for quiet, reflection, and self-care

Connect With Dr. Taz

Learn more about Dr. Taz and Hol+ at holplus.co

Connect With Brown Ambition

Follow Brown Ambition on Instagram: @brownambitionpodcast
Follow Mandi Money: @mandimoney

If this episode spoke to you, share it with a woman who’s been told she’s “just stressed,” “just getting older,” or needs to simply power through—and remind her that asking questions about her health is part of taking care of her wealth, her future, and herself.

Note: This is for informational purposes and not meant to be medical advice. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special Friday episode, Mandi celebrates the BA Fam, shares the origin story behind Brown Ambition, and introduces Brown Buzz—your new end-of-week roundup of the headlines shaping your money, career, culture, and life.

This week on Brown Buzz:
•    The Federal Reserve raised interest rates. What does that mean for credit-card debt, variable-rate loans, savings accounts, and your investments?
•    More job seekers are getting interviewed by AI bots instead of actual humans. Mandi shares how to navigate the robot-filled hiring process—and why your real-life network matters more than ever.
•    Ed Sheeran’s tour drama: Macklemore was removed from the tour after speaking out for Palestine, other artists walked away, and the controversy raises bigger questions about neutrality, power, and who gets to speak.
•    Rep. Jasmine Crockett is facing backlash after honoring Chris Brown at a Texas concert. Mandi unpacks the difference between fandom, Black joy, public recognition, and accountability.
•    Plus, a Brown Boost for Rep. Joyce Beatty after her response to President Donald Trump.

Join the BA Book Club
The Brown Ambition Book Club is back! Our September/October pick is Love, Me: A Letter to Black Women in a Toxic Country, Career, and Relationship by Tiffany D. Cross.

Join the book club here:  
https://mandimoney.myflodesk.com/r77pw75z5q
Sign up to receive details about the virtual October book-club meetup. The invitation and event details will go to BA Fam who join through the link.

Stay connected
Have a headline, question, or topic you want on a future Brown Buzz? Email [email protected], tag @brownambitionpodcast on Instagram, or send a DM @brownambitionpodcast

Follow and subscribe to Brown Ambition, and come back every Wednesday for guest conversations and every Friday for Brown Buzz.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when the ambition that helped you build your life starts costing you your well-being?

For many ambitious women, especially women of color, success can come with a hidden cost: saying yes when we’re exhausted, pushing through when our bodies are asking us to slow down, and measuring our worth by how much we can accomplish. But wellness isn’t just about massages and self-care days. Sometimes it looks like setting boundaries, asking for help, knowing what you actually need, and giving yourself permission to come back to yourself.

In this episode, Koya Webb joins Mandi Money to talk about the connection between wellness, ambition, money, and leadership. She opens up about losing her mother while writing her latest book, how grief changed the way she thinks about success and family, and why she’s learning to embrace a new version of herself.

Koya also shares the entrepreneurial lessons she learned building her wellness business—from hiring and structuring a team to finding mentors and creating a financial design that helps her determine what she actually needs to earn and how much her time is worth.

Plus, we talk about the rituals that can help us manage stress, process difficult experiences, and stop abandoning ourselves in the name of ambition.

In this episode:

• Why ambition can sometimes lead to self-abandonment

• What grief taught Koya about success, family, and living authentically

• Building a wellness business from the ground up

• Why you don’t need a huge team to build a successful business

• The importance of structure, mentorship, and knowing when to ask for help

• Koya’s approach to financial well-being and “financial design”

• How to determine what you actually need to earn

• Using breathwork, affirmations, and other rituals to regulate stress

• Why women of color need tools to navigate difficult workplaces and relationships

• Learning to process pain instead of carrying it

• How to recognize when you’re self-abandoning for the sake of success

• Why sometimes the goal isn’t to leave—it’s to learn how to stay without losing yourself

• Finding the wisdom in your wounds and remembering that you can always come back

Connect With Koya
Follow Koya Webb on Instagram: @koyawebb  
Learn more about Koya’s work and get her new book, Well-Being Rituals: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1394387229?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Connect With Brown Ambition
Follow us on Instagram: @brownambitionpodcast  
Follow Mandi: @mandimoney

If this episode spoke to you, share it with a friend who is building a big life — and needs permission to protect her peace while she does it.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you spend years pouring everything into your career, relationships, and success only to realize they aren’t pouring the same love back into you?

In this episode of Brown Ambition, Mandi sits down with journalist and author Tiffany D. Cross to talk about her new book, Love, Me: A Letter to Black Women in a Toxic Country, Career, and Relationship.

Tiffany opens up about her very public exit from MSNBC, rebuilding her life after career heartbreak, and the difficult process of learning to recognize her own value. Together, Mandi and Tiffany explore the parallels between toxic workplaces and toxic relationships—and why so many of us chase validation through promotions, titles, money, and other people’s approval.

They also talk about financial security, building your own table instead of waiting for a seat, the power of community, and why Black women need to think differently about career success, wealth, and what we’re building for the next generation.

Plus, Tiffany makes a passionate case for putting down the phone, picking up a book, and remembering that the algorithm is not the blueprint.

In this episode:

• Tiffany Cross on leaving MSNBC and starting over

• Career burnout, workplace validation, and knowing your worth

• Toxic relationships and toxic workplaces

• Financial security and building wealth

• Creating your own opportunities instead of waiting for a seat

• Community, Black women, and building for the next generation

• Why reading and learning still matter in the age of social media

BOOK CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT: Also, we're thrilled to announce the Brown Ambition Book Club is back! And Tiffany's book is our September/October selection. We're giving 5 lucky listeners a FREE copy -- be sure to listen to the full episode to find out how to get yours!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.