The Financial Griot

In this episode, Lovely Merdelus is recording her first solo episode. It's going to be pure Flame. She is discussing her journey as a social entrepreneur and now as a full fledged business entrepreneur.

Her journey was one of acceptance, mental shifting and purpose. In the long run, she knows that her purpose is to teach and help small businesses scale up. Her experience in big tech and growing in a company that was ultimately valued at a billion dollars, showed her that anything is possible.

Listen for gems and find your purpose. 

Here's a bit about our background and who we are:

The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the racial wealth gap. 

Merriam-Webster defines a Griot as a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called a bard.

As such, we tell the stories that others don't. Stories that we should share for growth, opportunity and understanding. Beyond that we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporating actionable steps and ultimately building generational wealth. 

So there you have it, The Financial Griot or TFG for short. You will be in for a treat. The hosts were able to amass over $2.5 Million in wealth in about 8 years and are on track to retire early. If you want the secrets; we will gladly share them since opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.

Connect with TFG Crew: 

Alainta Alcin - Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @its_alainta

Lovely Merdelus - Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus

Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez - Auditor and Financial Literacy Educator @theneighborhoodfinanceguy

In this episode, Lovely and Lawrence talk about Atomic Habits by James Clear. A truly phenomenal mindset shifting book that we highly recommend. 

What started as a conversation on changing our identity, shifted to a pseudo book review since there are a lot of great takeaways that everyone can use.  Wealth is not as expensive as we perceived but it has a cost. You have to be willing to adopt new narratives in your life and pivot toward something more. 

In truth, most people are subconsciously comfortable with their lives as is and struggle with changing in fear that nothing stays the same. Alas, "nothing stays the same and change is the only constant." The real question is, "Do you want to change?" If so, here are great reasons why.  

As always, remember to like, share, and subscribe to this podcast. Leave us a review!

Additional Resources

• How Habits Help (and Harm!)
• Book Lounge: Atomic Habits with Guest Kamilah O'Brien @focusedspender
• How to become 37.78 times better at anything

Here's a bit about our background and who we are:

The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the racial wealth gap. 

Merriam-Webster defines a Griot as a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called a bard.

As such, we tell the stories that others don't. Stories that we should share for growth, opportunity and understanding. Beyond that we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporating actionable steps and ultimately building generational wealth. 

So there you have it, The Financial Griot or TFG for short. You will be in for a treat. The hosts were able to amass over $2.5 Million in wealth in about 8 years and are on track to retire early. If you want the secrets; we will gladly share them since opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.

Connect with TFG Crew: 

Alainta Alcin - Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @its_alainta

Lovely Merdelus - Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus

Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez - Auditor and Financial Literacy Educator @theneighborhoodfinanceguy

In this episode, Lovely and Lawrence talk about the growth of the #DebtFreedomJourney and how it's not always as great as it seems. Popularized by Dave Ramsey in the 2000s, Debt Freedom and #FinancialPeaceUniversity have been re-positioned as an emotional argument when in truth, money management is at the intersection of arithmetics and critical thinking. 

For example, local bank savings account is still going for 0.01%. An investment of $10,000 in 2021 would have yielded $1. In contrast, an investment of $10,000 in Bank of America $BAC would have yielded $14,881. An investment in JP Morgan Chase $JPM of $10,000 would now be worth $12,811. An investment in American Express $AXP of $10,000 would be $12,743. 
 

There is a huge difference from those numbers versus earning $1. Financial Literacy is the real path of wealth. We have to understand how to grow our money wisely.

Here's a bit about our background and who we are:

The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the racial wealth gap. 

Merriam-Webster defines a Griot as a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called a bard.

As such, we tell the stories that others don't. Stories that we should share for growth, opportunity and understanding. Beyond that we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporating actionable steps and ultimately building generational wealth. 

So there you have it, The Financial Griot or TFG for short. You will be in for a treat. The hosts were able to amass over $2.5 Million in wealth in about 8 years and are on track to retire early. If you want the secrets; we will gladly share them since opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.

Connect with TFG Crew: 

Alainta Alcin - Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @its_alainta

Lovely Merdelus - Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus

Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez - Auditor and Financial Literacy Educator @theneighborhoodfinanceguy

Wait isn't that just counseling?

In this episode of The Financial Griot, we are introducing Doreen (Lawrence's Wife)! Yep, this is a special couple's episode where we discuss our thoughts on a social media influencer's position on getting per-marital counseling in the dating phase?

We dish out our perspectives as newlyweds. It's crazy how the dating game has changed, and how challenging/expensive it's become.

"New Year and New Me" is tired right now. Just go out and set a trajectory of forward movement.

In this episode of the Financial Griot, Alainta Alcin and Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez discuss their important thoughts on Don Lemon and being drunk on camera, and what not to do during the New Year. Ahead of time, we apologize for the sound issue. It is all Lawrence's fault so blame him.

Alainta, on the other hand, sounds on point. However if you bare through it, you will find a lot of great gems which is why we decided to keep it. All that out of the way, happy new year.

Remember, "Try not to confused activity with movement." Too many are spinning their wheels going no where. As always, we sincerely thank you for your support. We've only been out since Fall 2021 and already reached 1,000 downloads. We get comments and feedback and we will continue to bring you dialogue that elevates the culture.

Book Recommendations to jump start your year: 

1. Atomic Habits
2. Daring Greatly
3. The Simple Path to Wealth 

Here's a bit about our background and who we are:

The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the racial wealth gap. 

Merriam-Webster defines a Griot as a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called a bard.

As such, we tell the stories that others don't. Stories that we should share for growth, opportunity and understanding. Beyond that we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporating actionable steps and ultimately building generational wealth. 

So there you have it, The Financial Griot or TFG for short. You will be in for a treat. The hosts were able to amass over $2 Million in wealth in about 8 years and are on track to retire early. If you want the secrets; we will gladly share them since opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.

Connect with TFG Crew: 

Alainta Alcin - Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @its_alainta

Lovely Merdelus - Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus

Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez - Federal Auditor, Blogger and Tax Specialist @theneighborhoodfinanceguy

"The two most important days in your life are 1. The day you were born and 2. The day you find your purpose." Mark Twain

For the record, this is a trigger warning for a lot of people who have dealt with childhood trauma or are still dealing with it. Part two of our discussion on disciplining a new generation and realizing that our kids will likely face different challenges. In this segment, Lovely and Alainta wanted to know the story of Baby Lawrence.

Lawrence dive into his past and shares about his relationship with his father and the trauma that one man can have on a community. 

As always, please feel free to show us some love in the reviews. Share, like, comment and/or discuss this with friends. We are also on IG and YouTube. In 2022, we will be shifting toward streamlined content no longer than 30 minutes and bringing in more guests.

This Financial Griot podcast episode is based on the New York Times Opinion, "I grew up poor. How Am I supposed to Raise My Middle-Class Kids?" 

In the advent of the internet and social media, it seems that kids are spending less time being kids and more time plugged into social media. From video games to Netflix, most parents are opting out of old disciplinary techniques to include corporal punishment, spanking and the likes. 

Unfortunately, you can make a ton of mistakes when raising kids. Most of them can end up irrevocable when it comes to long term trust and understanding. Here are some basic tips:

• Be Warm, Responsive, Consistent and Accepting.
• Recognize that you aren’t the sole authority of the universe.
• Understand that you can also make mistakes and we are all learning as we go.
• Master and Teach Emotional and Energy Regulation.
• Show them how to Practice Decision Making.
• Keep Challenging Them to be Smarter, Faster, more Spiritually Balanced and Stronger than they were yesterday.
• Accept and Acknowledge your own Limitations.
• Try Not to Use Reward And Punishment or levy past grievances unto new ones.
• Be Firm, Fair and Unbias. And, be on the same time as the other parent, and
• Avoid Parenting Myths.

"Sometimes we stop our own success"

In this episode, Lovely and the crew talk about rebuilding our wealth mindset: seeing and acting on opportunity. When the door opens, sometimes you are confronted with your own inaction, fear and limiting beliefs. When that happens, you would need to fight through imposter syndrome.

Lawrence is ironically coming clean with his own insecurities. 

Here's a bit about our background and who we are:

The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the racial wealth gap. 

Merriam-Webster defines a Griot as a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called a bard.

As such, we tell the stories that others don't. Stories that we should share for growth, opportunity and understanding. Beyond that we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporating actionable steps and ultimately building generational wealth. 

So there you have it, The Financial Griot or TFG for short. You will be in for a treat. The hosts were able to amass over $2 Million in wealth in about 8 years and are on track to retire early. If you want the secrets; we will gladly share them since opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.

Connect with TFG Crew: 

Alainta Alcin - Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @its_alainta

Lovely Merdelus - Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus

Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez - Federal Auditor, Blogger and Tax Specialist @theneighborhoodfinanceguy

Bet you didn't know that the Financial Griot podcast is an homage to the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.  For the Digitals aka Gen Z before Harry Potter and the Twighlight series, there was Goosebumps and Chicken Soup.

Our goal with the podcast to build a library of stories that the next generation can pull from in order to be successful. Like Lawrence stated before, "our actions today write the future's history," as such we have to make it count. Along with Lovely and Alainta, they discuss what it means to be 1st generation Black millennial living in the US starting from zero and striving for me. 

Here's a bit about our background and who we are:

The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the racial wealth gap. 

Merriam-Webster defines a Griot as a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a leader due to their position as an advisor to royal personages. As a result of the former of these two functions, they are sometimes called a bard.

As such, we tell the stories that others don't. Stories that we should share for growth, opportunity and understanding. Beyond that we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporating actionable steps and ultimately building generational wealth. 

So there you have it, The Financial Griot or TFG for short. You will be in for a treat. The hosts were able to amass over $2 Million in wealth in about 8 years and are on track to retire early. If you want the secrets; we will gladly share them since opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.

Connect with TFG Crew: 

Alainta Alcin - Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @its_alainta

Lovely Merdelus - Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus

Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez - Federal Auditor, Blogger and Tax Specialist @theneighborhoodfinanceguy