Growth & Grace

Announcer 0:00
This is a KUNV Studios original program.

Wesley Knight 0:04
The following program is underwritten by Crawford Management Group and Chris Glow, and does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and Moore, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. We back. I'm good. I'm good.

Music 0:28
When I was the last time, baby. We

Music 0:35
back and we back and we back and we back and we back and we back and we back.

Music 0:41
When I was the last.

Leaha Crawford 0:44
Hey, hey, hey, hey, Julian, Julian, Julian. Wait, wait, Julian.

Julian Rosado 0:50
Did you hear the news?

Leaha Crawford 0:51
What noise? The

Julian Rosado 0:52
news.

Leaha Crawford 0:52
What news?

Julian Rosado 0:53
Where LeBron's going?

Leaha Crawford 0:54
Man, man, man. So, so okay. Well, first of all, welcome to another episode of Growth and Grace, where we have real conversations that help you grow personally, professionally, and financially. I am Leah Crawford,

Julian Rosado 1:08
and I'm Julian Rosado. Okay,

Leaha Crawford 1:10
now back to that.

Julian Rosado 1:10
Okay.

Leaha Crawford 1:11
Oh my God, when I tell you that's the well, you okay the AKA conference was here. You know, I am a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, so it was an amazing week, and my sister and her bestie were here with me when we got the news that LeBron James was coming to Philly, and because it was some news about him being seen at Baldwin. Baldwin is this, you know, this private school in Philly, and one of my

Julian Rosado 1:34
oh, he was already seen there.

Leaha Crawford 1:36
He was. It was news that either him or her they were at Baldwin. So Baldwin is this, like I said, exclusive private school, and well, it's just like one of my girlfriend's children; they go to Baldwin, so we're sitting there and we're trying to plan to go, you know, the Eagles game. Everybody said no, we are going to a Sixers game, and I was like, I had no clue. Man, when I tell you, you can't find a LeBron jersey. I don't know if they put them out yet, but they they when they when they when they hit the street in Philly, they are gone. The Philly

Julian Rosado 2:08
crazy, my

Leaha Crawford 2:08
everybody. If they weren't a Sixers fan before then, they are a Six in Philly. They are a Sixers fan now. I've always been a Philly fan. I don't care good, bad, or indifferent, but I can tell you that every team LeBron has gone to, they have won a championship, and I am looking forward to this basketball season. Already, you know, people look here. Y'all know I'm Philly all the way. I don't, you know, I'm Philly through and through, Philly through and through. I like the Eagles. I like the Flyers. I like the. I don't know much about baseball, but I will watch the Phillies. I'll watch the Phillies, and y'all know

Julian Rosado 2:42
nothing really about soccer. I don't know. I don't even know who the soccer team is. But if

Leaha Crawford 2:47
it's Philly, the World Cup's

Julian Rosado 2:49
going on. You're like, what? Where? That's what. And that's a true story because he said Leah,

Leaha Crawford 2:53
the World Cup's going on. I was like, really? Okay, all right, right. And but I am a Philly. I am truly. I am truly a Philly fan. But today, y'all, we have somebody special in the studio. She is actually an accountant, y'all. So we have another accountant here that can talk to me about numbers. You know, that's my favorite thing. Her name is Aziza Reed. She is an accredited financial counselor. Her company is. I want. I want to make it. I get it right. Aziza Reed Consulting. Aziza Reed Consulting. First of all, welcome to Growth and Grace. Thank you for accepting the invitation. Yes, thank

Azeeza Reed 3:24
you for having me.

Leaha Crawford 3:25
All right. So, where did first of all, when I saw the school you went to, I was like California University of Pennsylvania. I was like, where is California? Where is California University of Pennsylvania?

Azeeza Reed 3:35
It's not too far from Pittsburgh. So

Leaha Crawford 3:39
okay, California. Well, well, you're okay. Well, it's in Pennsylvania. It's

Azeeza Reed 3:42
like in the middle of nowhere, though. So you wouldn't. It's just really a school there, and so

Leaha Crawford 3:48
it's in Pennsylvania.

Azeeza Reed 3:49
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's in Pennsylvania. It's in

Leaha Crawford 3:51
Pennsylvania. Okay, and why did why California? I'm not even. But I looked at the school. I'm like, it's an old school, 1857.

Azeeza Reed 3:58
Yeah. So originally, I started my education at a community college in Pittsburgh, so I went to CCAC, and I went there for about two years. Got a lot of electives out the way. Didn't have to touch any type of loan at that time. That was just a bunch of grant money, and then one of my friends at the time went to that school, and she was hyping it up, and the cost, you know, wasn't too bad, so that's what I was gonna

Leaha Crawford 4:24
say because you you're in Pittsburgh. I know, I know,

Azeeza Reed 4:26
yeah, yeah, and I just, I just at that time I just wanted to get away a little bit, but not be too far, you know, from home. So I just

Leaha Crawford 4:36
got it, applied and

Azeeza Reed 4:36
went.

Leaha Crawford 4:37
All right, no, because University of Pittsburgh is there, and yeah, absolutely, and then you got Penn State.

Azeeza Reed 4:41
Yep, I know, I know all

Leaha Crawford 4:42
the campuses. Yeah, yeah, all the campuses.

Azeeza Reed 4:45
Right, I could have just went there. So

Leaha Crawford 4:47
okay, all right. So they're so married, single,

Azeeza Reed 4:51
married, married. How long

Leaha Crawford 4:53
you been married?

Azeeza Reed 4:53
So I've been married for about six years. Together for like a decade. Met in college.

Leaha Crawford 4:59
Okay. Got a

Azeeza Reed 5:00
got a little one, nice. We call her Buki. Okay, Buki. Hi, Buki.

Leaha Crawford 5:06
How you doing? Yeah. Um, and you worked for the big. Well, it's the big four now. It was you know was big eight. Then it was big six. Now big four. She worked for Price Waterhouse Coopers, PwC. How was that?

Azeeza Reed 5:21
So in which

Leaha Crawford 5:22
office though? Where were where were you located? I

Azeeza Reed 5:24
was in Pittsburgh. I was in the Grant Building, Steel Tower in downtown Pittsburgh, and I was in basically we was doing like the fiduciary

Leaha Crawford 5:34
responsibility. Okay,

Azeeza Reed 5:35
yeah. So it was very specialized. Okay, so you were in

Leaha Crawford 5:38
tax.

Azeeza Reed 5:39
Yeah,

Leaha Crawford 5:40
and not audit.

Azeeza Reed 5:40
No, that's.

Leaha Crawford 5:41
I mean, that's intro because you know a lot. A lot of times they start you. No, you blessed if you weren't taxed because most of the time they they start you out in audit.

Azeeza Reed 5:49
But they the that department turns over a lot because it's so specialized and you don't really like if you go through and get your degree in accounting they touch on it if you notice, but they don't go in depth about it, like filing, you know, taxes on behalf of the bank, like doing trust tax returns. Yup, yup. So there, it like it is

Leaha Crawford 6:11
very well. Let me say it is very specialized because people lawyers tell you to set up trust. Yep, right. They tell you know set up set up the trust. Make it make it or irrevocable or revocable, and then it becomes irrevocable, and then you have this, and then you have that,

Azeeza Reed 6:25
right?

Leaha Crawford 6:26
But they never talk to you about the tax return that goes with

Azeeza Reed 6:28
it. Exactly. If it's

Leaha Crawford 6:30
especially if it's income generating.

Azeeza Reed 6:31
Yep. Yep.

Leaha Crawford 6:32
And there is a tax return that goes with exactly right. And I'm

Azeeza Reed 6:35
happy that I did learn about it because you realize you can make a trust for anything

Leaha Crawford 6:41
you can, yeah, for

Azeeza Reed 6:41
anything, right? And I'd be looking at all these, and I'm reading over the documents. Oh, I'm sorry. And then I was reading over the documents of just how they would handle it. Like if somebody passed away, she wanted one grandkid to go in the house at a time and grab an item and come back out. They could be. You could be so particular. Yeah.

Leaha Crawford 7:00
No, the funny thing, because you're controlling it from the grave, right? Yes, you're controlling people's, and yeah. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Go ahead. This is your story. Go ahead. Yeah,

Azeeza Reed 7:10
and and just kind of just learning, you know, because I come from poverty, you know, grouping a project, single parent household. So there was no talk about wealth. Never talk about a trust. I when I got in the departments when I first learned about the ins and outs of a trust and how that and how that works and just kind of seeing how other people move. So it was it was a great learning experience.

Leaha Crawford 7:36
You learned and actually even now that's a specialty. And if you setting up a trust, you got something to put in a trust.

Azeeza Reed 7:44
Exactly,

Leaha Crawford 7:45
and right. So it's just different.

Azeeza Reed 7:48
Yep, different

Leaha Crawford 7:49
conversation. All right. What at what point did you realize that you wanted to step out and start the company, though?

Azeeza Reed 7:56
Honestly, I've always been an entrepreneur at Spirit. Accounting was just one of those things, like my fall back plan. Okay, like okay, if you could track money on paper, somebody's gonna need some form of that in some way or capacity. Right. So I'm like okay, and I just I seen everything I was learning, and I've always had a knack for for for money. Like I, I say I started my own bank at the age of 16, and I would just be paving my way through college, not touching loans, and making sure that I'm setting myself up financially to change my environment.

Leaha Crawford 8:35
Okay,

Azeeza Reed 8:35
and and that was just a stepping stone. So I really just have a passion for taking information, financial information, and empowering others with it, but not just the information aspect. Because I want to make that clear as well. Because some people feel like financial education is, oh, you know, we just talking about compound interest, basic budgeting. But I'm as a as a credit financial counselor, I bridge the gap, and I want to build the skill. See, they say you change behavior by not just the information alone, but teaching the skill. Okay, if this is in front of you, what do you do? So we're talking about interest rates. So if I give you two different scenarios, how does that apply in your situation? How would you handle that, and and really just tapping into that? So that that's where my passion drives. That's

Leaha Crawford 9:28
where your passion drives you. Now, is there a market for that, and how do you get paid for that?

Azeeza Reed 9:34
So we're a B 2b to C market. So I target employers. Normally, we're about 5000 employees or less, and it's a part of your HR benefits that you would offer to your employees. And I believe there's a huge market for it. And I know Price Waterhouse they do surveys every single year about financial stresses. That's always a thing, especially in today's time. Inflation, money, hardships about finances is is on both ends, businesses and employees. So there's definitely a market for, especially the younger generation. They're at higher levels of stress when it comes to their finance. But the thing

Leaha Crawford 10:18
of okay, so the market is one thing; getting paid is something else.

Azeeza Reed 10:22
Right,

Leaha Crawford 10:23
as a business owner,

Azeeza Reed 10:23
so the the employer would pay me

Leaha Crawford 10:26
okay

Azeeza Reed 10:26
to come in, and then if they want to set aside one on one counseling, a part of the package that that they can do that as well.

Leaha Crawford 10:32
Okay, so you talked about basic budgeting because I'm a I'm a you got to start somewhere, and I tell people because if you don't, you got to know how to just the numbers gotta add the numbers and subtract the numbers and come up with the bottom. Right, and the emotion is in the subtraction. The emotion is in the subtraction and wording it differently. So, when you see somebody that is overwhelmed financially, how do you handle that? What do you do? Someone comes to you. I'm overwhelmed financially. I don't have. I'm overwhelmed. I don't know.

Azeeza Reed 11:05
Well, we would sit there and have a conversation. Exactly, what are you overwhelmed about?

Leaha Crawford 11:12
Okay,

Azeeza Reed 11:12
is what I would start to just get them comfortable. Of like, okay, so because sometimes situations might not be as bad as you think it is? It seems bad. But then, like you said, first having that conversation, the one-on-one of what is your what is your pain points, what are the issues you're having, and then what do you feel like you're doing well at, and then, like you said, and then going into the budgeting as far as let's look at the numbers, right? Let's pull it out. Let's figure it out, and then and then having those conversations of where we can kind of move past that and how to add to that.

Leaha Crawford 11:49
Yeah, because what's that app out there, Dave? Where it goes through your stuff to see all the subscriptions you're paying for? Because people don't know how to place that. Oh, I can't think. But when we think of it, just say it, y'all. Right. I put the question out there because I'm like, wow! Somebody, when you actually look at your bank statement for, but it's funny,

Julian Rosado 12:05
you have to pay another. You have to add another subscription. I mean, think about, but think, but no, think about the law. But, but,

Leaha Crawford 12:14
but think about even okay. Say you don't buy the subscription, but if you really, really look at your stuff to see,

Julian Rosado 12:20
yeah,

Azeeza Reed 12:20
what all you're really paying for on a monthly basis, and then decide: Do I need? I mean, do you need it? Yeah, yeah. And I feel like now we're in a buy now, pay later, touch tap. You don't even have to just like physically see the loss. That's what the hard part is. And you're like, oh, I've been paying for that for the last six months, I don't even use that no more. So I think, like you're saying, is making sure keeping an eye on what's being automated. And another thing is, what your virtual wallets, how that's set up, because you could have. I won't set them

Leaha Crawford 12:53
up. I won't. I. So, I'm. It's a true story. Oh well,

Julian Rosado 12:58
you don't set it up,

Leaha Crawford 12:59
man. Absolutely not. I. I'm not for real. I have a. I'm old school. I have that

Julian Rosado 13:03
set up. So no

Leaha Crawford 13:04
old no. They every time it comes to home. Do you want to accept the wallet? Absolutely no. Right. Because I don't need to tap. No. No. Because honestly, what I learned is when I can just swipe, I have no idea of how much money I spent. But if I got to physically count some money out. Yep, I'm less likely to do stuff. Right, right, and that's that psychology. You see the

Azeeza Reed 13:26
loss immediately versus a swipe. You don't see it until you see your your statement. You're like, oh wait,

Leaha Crawford 13:32
I've had those moments where wait, I

Azeeza Reed 13:35
paid that much. Well, we did go on vacation or something. Like something happened, and then you

Leaha Crawford 13:39
think you're being frugal on vacation. Yeah, because and the reason why I started, I I always go back to that is I I did the the swipe. I don't do the wallet,

Julian Rosado 13:48
okay. Because

Leaha Crawford 13:49
I see people just push dave. I'm not not touching my phone against that, and

Julian Rosado 13:53
I'm gonna delete mine. No,

Leaha Crawford 13:54
because I watch when I just swipe unconsciously, I will hit a credit card limit, right? Because I'm just swiping, right?

Leaha Crawford 14:01
And then I'm stuck, and I'm like, okay, nope, we got to go back to cash only.

Julian Rosado 14:04
Okay. Oh wait, wait, you do cash only?

Leaha Crawford 14:07
On cash only.

Julian Rosado 14:08
Really? Mhm. So we walk around all that change?

Leaha Crawford 14:11
Mm. Don't go nowhere. You go. It is. It is. So it is a planned purchase. I go back to plan purchases. No more emotional buying. No more that's cute. So I'm gonna swipe and get

Julian Rosado 14:22
it. It's a planned

Leaha Crawford 14:23
purchase. Like right now, we have to go and get

Julian Rosado 14:25
for the day.

Leaha Crawford 14:26
So for most, okay. So when my sisters, it's funny when they came out here and they conference. So we had we had this conference and they have a vendor hall.

Julian Rosado 14:34
The

Leaha Crawford 14:34
vendor hall. I mean, it just all the things. And you could. I mean, if you swiping, you would you would swipe out, right? And what she said was, "I am only spending X amount of dollars, and she bought that amount of money in cash. She said, "That's all I'm spending. I'm not swiping my card because if I swipe my card, because after you swipe it the first time, that's

Julian Rosado 14:56
it.

Leaha Crawford 14:56
And it's like when you." Cause I know people that are in a lot of debt. How do you? What would you tell someone that's in a lot of debt? How do they start the process to get to the other side to get out of debt?

Azeeza Reed 15:10
Well, like you said, it's going after the numbers, laying out the amounts you owe, what's the interest rates on those amounts, and then figuring out which way to attack it, and most people, like I said, there's the emotion behind it. So maybe starting off with a low balance, but also contacting creditors that you owe and say, "Hey, maybe you fell on some hard times. Can you work with me? And then a lot of some, like say for example, sometimes people don't even realize you can go to credit card companies and explain your situation, and then they have programs to help you assist with. Okay, we can lock you into maybe a certain interest rates for a period of time while you're you're paying off your debts, right? So if if you're in a lot of debt, I think the best way is to lay it all out and figure out number one which debt to attack first, and then also what areas to cut back to attack that specific debt. So

Leaha Crawford 16:07
okay, so let me ask you this: Why do smart, successful people struggle with money?

Azeeza Reed 16:12
I think it has to deal with like the lifestyle creep. Some people feel that just because the money's coming in. Oh, that means I gotta get fancier. I gotta, I gotta do this. And I and I find it strange sometimes when some people is having high incomes and they're like, oh, I'm struggling. I don't get it. But it's like, okay, well, you got carno and and you have all these things that you're pushing shiny things. Yes, shiny things. Yeah, and it's like, honestly, if you were to get rid of this, this, this, oh no, I can't do that. You wouldn't have a problem. But like I said, sometimes it's the lifestyle creep. You feel like you gotta keep up with the Joneses, and you're not willing to.

Julian Rosado 16:54
Who the hell are these Joneses? I'm telling you, who are these Joneses? Who who are who who are the Joneses? You have the Jones, right?

Leaha Crawford 17:02
Well, let me tell you what I used to do. So let me, so let me tell you what I used to tell people. It's like I am the Jones, right, right. I am the Jones, right. I'm setting the standard for me, right. No, because and and that's a good point though, because I like um my sister. I love my sister because her biggest thing with her and her daughter is be grateful for what you have.

Julian Rosado 17:21
Yeah.

Leaha Crawford 17:22
Be grateful for what you have, and in in being you know growth and grace. Yeah. Being grateful. Being you know okay. So if because when you get a new car, a lot of stuff comes with that new car.

Julian Rosado 17:35
Yeah. Yeah. The car

Leaha Crawford 17:37
note,

Julian Rosado 17:37
the

Leaha Crawford 17:38
the maintenance. You know the gas. Main. You know because maintaining a car, not like knowing if you can afford a car is more than just, you know,

Azeeza Reed 17:46
the maintenance, the

Leaha Crawford 17:47
the payment,

Julian Rosado 17:48
insurance, the insurance, right? Right.

Leaha Crawford 17:51
And when you're having, and I guess having these conversations with with with young people and letting them know, yeah, that that that that foreign car is pretty, but you might need to start with something

Azeeza Reed 18:02
else, right? Right. Because

Leaha Crawford 18:04
yeah, because I, because me, we're having this conversation with the kids now. Like, okay, so if you want this car, I want you to go get a job. I want you to pay half the car note. Right. Just half the car note. Right.

Azeeza Reed 18:14
And they don't realize, you know, like you said, it requires upkeep, and those things happen when when you're like, oh, it's like a rough situation when something happened with the car. But no, it's like the gas. No, no, it's

Leaha Crawford 18:26
the gas too. Oh yes, God forbid. I mean, well, Julian got a car that's electric, but it's still. I mean, it's the gas. It's the gas. Or even electric, you gotta stop. You gotta stop somewhere and charge up. I

Julian Rosado 18:35
did not know that. You have electric

Azeeza Reed 18:37
vehicle. Yeah, yeah, but I did

Julian Rosado 18:39
not know you still have to. I'm sorry, I did not know you. Still have it's like wait, I have to pay $25. Like I thought it was to charge it up. I don't have an electric vehicle. I did not know that. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Right. So people have a

Azeeza Reed 18:56
hybrid, but yeah, but but

Leaha Crawford 18:58
even that though, right? So it's something. So so you're saying that even though I'm successful, that you need to, you still need to know where your money is going. Yeah, yeah,

Azeeza Reed 19:08
you should know it at all times. The more money you make, you it's harder to start to making sure you retain the wealth that you're building. That's a job too.

Leaha Crawford 19:18
But that leads me to my next question because how do how do you what financial habits do you see that people that are simply earning money from those that are building wealth? Because you you worked in the trust on the trust and estate side and specialty side, and you've now seen people. I mean, you growing up, you know, you've seen how you were living. What do you see that is different between the two?

Azeeza Reed 19:43
Right, I feel like it's focused on assets first. Right, so we're talking about things that'll build legacy and longevity, not just consuming the latest and greatest. Like, what the cost of an iPhone is like over $1,000 now. Right, it's getting crazy. So I feel like it's a lot more investments in assets, and and honestly, making sure your structures is correct and have an attorney's fact check. Like you said, with trust, you got to talk to an attorney. Making sure every stage when you're transitioning, you have somebody in place to help assist, like CPAs and making sure they're fact checking things, attorneys to call. Right? I remember there was the bail, making sure you have your bail team, right?

Leaha Crawford 20:33
Bail, making sure you have your bail team. Yeah,

Azeeza Reed 20:35
making sure you have your bail team with you. So I I feel like making sure that they're investing in assets versus just consuming everything that comes.

Leaha Crawford 20:44
So you're saying people that earn money basically are consumers. Yeah,

Azeeza Reed 20:48
that's how they. That's what they call you. That's what they call people. They say consumers.

Leaha Crawford 20:53
Consumers, right? And everything on

Azeeza Reed 20:56
social media is tap, tap, consume, consume, consume, consume. They consume your intention, your time, and your money. Yeah. So, so, but if you build these

Julian Rosado 21:06
tools are actually very easy. I think that's the problem people come to realize. They think this is too much. This I don't have the the time span. But you got the time because you consume it. They don't really think that this is actually very very easy. Yeah. Very very easy. And the phone

Azeeza Reed 21:23
will tell you how how long you've been consuming every week on average. You've been doing six hours, seven hours. You're like,

Leaha Crawford 21:30
you've been on ChatGPT this long. You've been doing this. But but I I guess because I also think about mindset. Yeah. So what do you think about mindset? Yes,

Azeeza Reed 21:38
I think oh education always pouring into education. Education is one of those things. You can go to a library, check out a book for free. They still exist. Libraries still exist, and they give you library cards. Consuming education, whether that's paying for a seminar and building your skill and improving your craft or whatever that is, and continuously innovating. You know, we talk about like AI, but really, really educating yourself, reading, and and putting that first.

Leaha Crawford 22:12
Well, what? So, do you use ChatGPT at all, or perpetually? I do. I

Azeeza Reed 22:16
like Claude. I just got him to like Claude. Do you want to

Leaha Crawford 22:19
know what Claude? Claude is the man. It is. I like Claude. Claude

Azeeza Reed 22:23
is amazing.

Leaha Crawford 22:25
All right. So, if you wanted something different in your life, could you talk to Claude to start? I mean, just to start.

Azeeza Reed 22:33
I think so. I think so. Are you talking about like financial?

Leaha Crawford 22:37
Yeah. Just. I mean, I don't know what I'm doing. I have no clue.

Azeeza Reed 22:41
Yeah, I think it's okay to ask questions. Okay, but finances is always one of those things still where people look for that human touch. It's like going to the doctors. Would you want a robot rolling in and asking you a bunch of questions? Well, they

Leaha Crawford 22:54
might be rolling in soon. I'm just saying. Right. I know they've been using

Azeeza Reed 22:57
it for surgery. Here you go.

Leaha Crawford 22:59
Just fill out. Just just punch the button. Right, right,

Azeeza Reed 23:02
right. But you still want that human doctor component aspect where you can ask questions. Well, how are you feeling? What's going on? If you're having specific issues, so I think it's not wrong to incorporate AI. I mean, it's here. It's not wrong to to ask specific questions, but it's at some point you got to take it offline.

Leaha Crawford 23:20
Take it offline. You have to

Azeeza Reed 23:21
go and have that human touch. That let's talk about your specific situation, right? Because even AI can still get it wrong. AI,

Leaha Crawford 23:30
okay, and and that's and that's well, you got to read it, right, right. You got to read it. They have their

Azeeza Reed 23:34
little their little disclaimer, right? Got to read

Leaha Crawford 23:36
it. You know, hey, don't, don't. Here you go, don't don't don't leave, don't quit your job because I told you, right, right. Don't quit your job. Yeah, just yeah, because they told

Azeeza Reed 23:45
you you're amazing. You're amazing. Yeah, yeah. Always

Julian Rosado 23:48
agree with you. Right, right. Always agree with you. You could

Azeeza Reed 23:51
prompt it to tell you the truth.

Leaha Crawford 23:53
Actually, somebody did. They prompted theirs to tell the truth, and it's like you know, this is the brutal, honest truth. I'm like, did it just say? Right, right. Sometimes

Azeeza Reed 24:03
you get in an argument with it, right? Then you gotta be like, okay, I gotta put you down, right? Because you, you be like, damn, I'm crazy.

Leaha Crawford 24:12
No, because they can actually talk about. I gotta walk away, right? So what's what's the one financial mistake that you see over and over again. That's a good question.

Julian Rosado 24:24
I'm still getting. We gotta put you down. And

Leaha Crawford 24:29
then we gonna get ready for lightning ride. Okay. This is Julian's favorite segment.

Azeeza Reed 24:33
I think feeling like people have to do it alone, or not being, or being afraid to ask the question. Sometimes, like I've been in a situation where people got into bad debt being young, or you know, not making payments, and you get those, you know, people calling you, hey, you always, and they call, and they call, and they call, they call, and they call, and you and you kind of get into this dark room by yourself, like, oh my gosh, I don't know who to turn. To who to talk, and you don't have to be. It's okay to ask questions, and it's okay to ask for help. But I

Leaha Crawford 25:07
don't want nobody. I want. I don't want you in my business.

Azeeza Reed 25:10
Go to somebody you trust.

Leaha Crawford 25:12
Okay. All right. All right. So let's do this lightning rod. So this is where Julian is going to say a word, and you got to say the first thing that comes to your mind. Think about it. First thing that comes to your mind.

Azeeza Reed 25:21
Okay. All right. First

Julian Rosado 25:22
thing. First thing. All right. Budget.

Leaha Crawford 25:25
You think that's low? Come on now. Sorry, it's lightning. Lightning

Azeeza Reed 25:30
of budget numbers.

Leaha Crawford 25:32
Greg, go ahead.

Julian Rosado 25:33
Homeownership.

Azeeza Reed 25:34
Empowerment.

Julian Rosado 25:35
Computers.

Azeeza Reed 25:36
Great tool. That's two words. A tool.

Julian Rosado 25:40
Batman,

Azeeza Reed 25:42
a hero, a hero,

Leaha Crawford 25:43
credit,

Azeeza Reed 25:44
useful,

Leaha Crawford 25:45
wealth,

Azeeza Reed 25:46
amazing,

Leaha Crawford 25:47
success.

Azeeza Reed 25:49
Dave got me some good ones.

Leaha Crawford 25:51
First thing that comes to your mind. First thing that comes. Don't don't think about it. So you think it too long. We're gonna go into the next one. Student loans,

Azeeza Reed 25:57
dreadful,

Leaha Crawford 26:00
and we're gonna. The last one is grace.

Azeeza Reed 26:02
Amazing.

Leaha Crawford 26:03
All right. So, if you had practical advice to give to someone, what would it be? Just practical. You just just one thing that somebody can do without contacting anyone if they feel this overwhelmingness of debt. What's one practical thing that they can do. Like I'm, I'm, I'm waking up this heavy.

Julian Rosado 26:24
Like the first step.

Leaha Crawford 26:25
Yeah, people are calling. I mean, I got the phone. Every time the phone ring, it's somebody, and some. It ain't. It ain't. And it ain't. It ain't. It ain't a family member or friend. But all I see is 800 numbers in my call log. I got a whole bunch of them. Right. What is something that you can say to them because that's very stressful. What's the first step you would tell them to take?

Azeeza Reed 26:48
Honestly, is first be honest with yourself. Stop running because they're not gonna stop calling, and it doesn't matter how how much you try to avoid it. It's not gonna just go away and disappear. Right,

Leaha Crawford 27:01
you can't stick your head in the sand. Yeah,

Azeeza Reed 27:02
you can't. I have some people that gotten that advice. Be honest and honestly, maybe reach out to somebody you know who's who you believe is doing something correct, or reach out to somebody like myself and figure out what is my first step. And sometimes, I mean, I got. Let's

Leaha Crawford 27:23
get let's get your contact information. We didn't get that. Give me your contact information.

Azeeza Reed 27:26
So, like, of course, my website is www. azizareed. com. You can email me at info at azizarreed. com, and then my phone number is 41249560121.

Leaha Crawford 27:40
more time,

Azeeza Reed 27:41
412-495-6012.

Leaha Crawford 27:44
And well, Aziza, thank you for sharing your wisdom, for having a fun-filled conversation with us this Saturday morning, and talking about financial freedom, because I think a lot of us believe it's not achievable, and it

Azeeza Reed 28:00
is. It

Leaha Crawford 28:01
is just with the right steps,

Azeeza Reed 28:02
exactly. With the right steps, and it's not a one one size fits all, right?

Leaha Crawford 28:07
I appreciate that. All right, Julian, what's going on? What you got going good?

Julian Rosado 28:13
Well, I'm gonna. Well, I'm really excited about LeBron, but I'm watching right now. I'm. I really want Shador to become the starter for the Cleveland Browns.

Leaha Crawford 28:26
Are you watching that? Okay, that's that's what you watching. All right. Okay.

Julian Rosado 28:29
You don't know about. I don't know.

Leaha Crawford 28:31
So what I'm doing? No,

Julian Rosado 28:32
Shorter. I have no. Let me

Leaha Crawford 28:33
say this. I have

Julian Rosado 28:34
Sanders soon.

Leaha Crawford 28:35
Oh, that's very nice. I wish him the best. I do. I do. I wish him the best. I am no. I'm. I'm just coming over. Just. I mean, because you saw the pink and green all here last week. Yeah. Did you saw all the pink and green? Yeah. Okay. So I had to work all week. Yeah. So I'm. I'm going relax. And I just relaxed and got over it. So I want to tell everyone. You know, the show was called Growth and Grace. Um, and we named this show that because we wanted you to constantly think about what does growth mean to you, and how do you give yourself grace? Until next week. Until next week. Peace and blessings. You got some last words? None. Okay. Peace and blessings. Bye.

Azeeza Reed 29:15
Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai