This Couple Once Broke Up Over Money And Now They've Made It Their Mission To Teach Others About Building Wealth
Julien and Kiersten Saunders met in 2012 while working for the same company and they quickly fell for one another. However, their whirlwind romance was cut short following an extravagant vacation. When they got home from Panama, reality set in, and they were forced to have a tough conversation about money after they both had different opinions on recouping the money spent on the vacation.
Prior to their baecation, they had agreed to split everything and used credit cards to help pay their traveling costs. Julien had always been conservative with his money whereas Kiersten was a little more liberal but those differences became more glaring after Kiersten continued going out while Julien was budgeting. As a result of the fallout over money, they would ultimately break up. Shortly after, however, they decided to give their love a chance once more and are now married with a son, running a successful blog and podcast helping others to learn financial literacy and build wealth.
Their blog Rich and Regular was inspired by the conversations they had with one another about money. Launched in 2017, they have used the blog to share their personal struggles and wins regarding money as well as making it a platform for Black people to gain knowledge about investing, entrepreneurship, and much more.
“It all sort of turned into what can we do to attract more people of color, especially Black professionals to think like this, to have these conversations to think like this, to re-evaluate their careers and their approach to investing for a myriad of reasons,” Julien says. “One, obviously Black wealth is important to the Black community, two, Black marriages are a core part of that community and that equation, and three, all of the other kinds of issues that affect our community that we don’t have time to solve because our lives are basically spent working.”
According to Business Insider, opposing attitudes about money is one of the biggest culprits leading many marriages to end in divorce. Kiersten and Julien were able to overcome this hurdle that many couples face, so they know a thing or two about the importance of having the money conversation early on.
“Once you hit that part when you start talking about goals and future plans, which for some people they come out the gate with that,” says Kiersten. “They want something very serious and they want to know that the person they’re spending time with aligns [with] them and their ambitions but as soon as you start having those conversations about the kind of life that you want, money is a huge tool to enable all of that life. So, you also want to make sure there is an accommodating financial plan to try to achieve this white picket fence, home ownership, multiple children and pets, and travel.”
The Atlanta couple also wrote the book Cashing Out: Win the Wealth Game by Walking Away, a guide to reaching financial freedom, which they both have managed to do. As life partners and business partners, Kiersten and Julien have experienced many trials and errors to maintain a thriving marriage and business. They agreed that the key to being successful at both has a lot to do with the type of environment you create in the home.
“We also make it a point to play to our strengths. We do that in our marriage and in our business where regardless of what gender roles or the patriarchy or what traditional marriage advice is, if I’m not good at something or if he’s not good at something, we don’t force the issue,” Kiersten explains. “So something as simple as cooking–Julien is a professionally trained culinary student and so cooking is far easier for him to do even though traditionally women are the ones who [are] supposed to cook but he does 99% of the cooking in our household and that’s just one example."
"We really audit every task, every project, every goal that we have to decide who’s gonna do what. Nothing really is on autopilot in that way and we’re true partners. It’s a bit unconventional because a lot of people kind of opt into roles because that’s what they’ve seen done [by] their mom or their parents or on television, whereas for us, it's a conversation to be like does that make sense?”
What once broke them up now has helped them amass wealth, become financially independent, and be adept at helping others achieve similar goals. Currently, they are working on launching the Cashing Out podcast to accompany their book and they are gearing up to release season three of their YouTube series “Money on the Table.” But while a lot has changed, some things still remain the same.
“We’ve both developed hacks to get around our natural tendencies but there’s also these limits so that you don’t create conflict. I still like to spend freely,” Kiersten admits, “but my workaround is to make sure we pay ourselves first, make sure we’ve invested, make sure we’ve set aside money for savings, the bills are taken care of and then I can do whatever I want with the rest.”
Julien shares that they now respect each other’s differences and even learn from them. “We have evolved to appreciate the other person’s approach or I think more so in the broader setup, financial characteristics that you may use to define who you are as opposed to spender or saver,” Julien says. “It’s more complex than that.”
“And so I think we’ve grown to appreciate that but I also think that as your money grows, as you have more of it, and as you continue to have more conversations about money, you just kinda get better at it. So, it's not really so much of a need to be so tight as you may be or may be required to be at the beginning when you’re really trying to dig out of debt or tryna to accomplish some lofty goal. If you’re past that then you can kind of afford to ease up a little bit and I think we’ve learned to do that. I’ve learned for sure.”
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Feature image courtesy of Julien and Kiersten Saunders
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London Alexaundria is the contributing editor for xoNecole. She is an alum of Clark Atlanta University, where she majored in Mass Media Arts and has worked in journalism for over ten years. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok @theselfcarewriter
This Black Woman-Owned Creative Agency Shows Us The Art Of Rebranding
Rebranding is an intricate process and very important to the success of businesses that want to change. However, before a business owner makes this decision, they should determine whether it's a rebrand or an evolution.
That's where people like Lola Adewuya come in. Lola is the founder and CEO of The Brand Doula, a brand development studio with a multidisciplinary approach to branding, social media, marketing, and design.
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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There Are Actually Scientific Reasons Why So Many Of Us Adore The Fall Season
Chile, maybe I’m just biased, but when I read earlier this year that the majority of Americans prefer the fall season over any other one, all I thought was, “Duh.” There really is no telling just how many articles I’ve written for this platform alone that have mentioned how fond I am of autumn and especially the month of October. I like the temperatures (well, I mean, global warming excluded). I like the scenery. I dig the outfits. I like pulling out my blankets and sipping on warm cider — hell, when it comes to fall, I adore pretty much everything about it.
Know what’s wild, though? There are actually some science-based reasons why so many of us are such big fans of that time of the year — one that is steadily approaching. So, if you’ve been trying to talk yourself out of getting a new neutral-colored comforter for your bed or you’re wondering if you’ve already gone too far with the pumpkins that you’ve got on your porch — my answer would be that you haven’t done enough to officially ring fall in! I’m not the only one who thinks that, either. Quite a bit of research thoroughly agrees.
It Takes Us Back to Our Childhoods
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It’s very common for fall to create feelings of nostalgia.For instance, even though it’s the season that technically doesn’t happen until the third week of September, many of us associate it with the first day of school, high school games, new television schedule line-ups (gee, remember that?), some of our favorite foods and drinks (like ginger snaps and hot cocoa), corn mazes, carving pumpkins, going trick-or-treating, attending fall festivals and so much other stuff that made autumn such a special time while growing up. Yeah, I bet if you thought back to what fall was like back when you were a kid right now, at least a couple of memories would immediately bring a smile to your face. (See…I told you.)
The Aesthetic Is Cozy and Comforting
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Scented candles. Roaring fireplaces. Fresh chrysanthemums. Foliage art. Metallic branches in vases. Neutral throw rugs. Carved pumpkins. Warm hues. Big throw pills. Cable-knit blankets. All of these are things that say “fall is here” in the most cozy and comforting ways. I mean, can you think of another time of year that beckons you to stay indoors more than fall does? Yeah, me neither.
It Boosts Your Self-Image
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Listen, if there’s one thing that I’m gonna do during the fall and winter seasons, it’s layer my outfits. That’s actually one of the reasons why I like fall so much — it’s because the fashion and style takes tend to be super on-point. And yes, based on what I’ve read, that’s another reason why a lot of people like the fall so much…since layering is about adding additional articles of clothing on, you don’t have to worry (as much) about the condition that your body is in like you do in the summertime. And when your body image is elevated, so is your confidence overall.
The Landscape Calms Us Down
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You might’ve already been aware of the fact that when you spend time in nature, it can help to de-stress you. Well, were you also aware of the fact that the beautiful colors of fall foliage can keep you calm as well? If you know anything about color psychology, this makes a lot of sense, considering a lot of leaves are shades of red (love), orange (happiness), and yellow (hope). So, if you’ve had a really stressful day at work, take the long way home to check out some fall trees or even rake up a pile and jump into them like when you were a kid. It could end up giving you the feeling of much-needed relief that you’ve been looking for.
It Creates a “Temporal Landmark”
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If you’ve never heard of a temporal landmark before, the long short of it is it’s moments in time that stand out to you to the point that it creates the perceptions that you currently have, plus it influences how you use your time in real-time. Since the holiday season kicks off during the fall season, activities like football games and homecomings mean a lot to people, and for some of us, the fall season marks the beginning of a new year (Rosh Hashanah), that’s another thing that makes autumn such a wonderful time of the year — we enjoy the way that we spend that season…a lot.
It’s an Unexpected Motivator
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On the heels of what I just said, whether you observe Rosh Hashanah or the winding down of the year is simply when you choose to pause and reflect in preparation for the calendar new year that is to come, some people really like the fall season because it motivates them to set new plans and goals. In fact, when you get a chance, check out “Why Fall Is The Perfect Time To Prep For The New Year.”
Using the next couple of months to ease into the new year makes a helluva lot more sense than jotting something down on New Year’s Eve real quick and then pressuring yourself to follow through for the first month of January.
It Means More Time with Family and Friends
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There’s probably no other time in the year when you are able to spend so much quality time with your loved ones than during the fall season, especially if they live out of town. I mean, just Thanksgiving alone proves that. Plus, winter doesn’t officially begin until December 21, which means that if you take time off leading into Christmas to visit family as well — that’s two times in less than a month that you’ve been able to get in some family and friends bonding time. If you love being around your family, fall always gives you time with them to look forward to.
It Means More Fall-Themed Sex
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When you get a chance, check out “Here's How To Have Some Really Great Fall-Themed Sex.” A part of the reason why I wrote it is because, did you know that late fall/early winter are the best times of the year to get some nookie? If you don’t believe me, also read “Did You Know Fall & Winter Are The Best Times To Have Sex?”
Between it being darker for a longer period of time, science saying that rainy weather actually makes us hornier, and pumpkins being an aphrodisiac (among other things) — if fall wasn’t your favorite time of year before you read this, maybe it will convince you to change your mind. Enjoy your fall season, everybody! Oh, and read up on what the combination of pumpkin and lavender scents can do for your boudoir experience. Thank me later. #wink
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