Money Talks is an xoNecole series where we talk candidly to real women about how they spend money, their relationship with money, and how they spend it.
Brittni Mealy is the ruler of her own universe - the Unicorn Universe, that is. As the creator and founder of clothing brand Unicorn Universe, the fashion enthusiast and serial self-starting entrepreneur went from working three jobs at once to being one of the most sought after talents and businesswomen in the fashion and luxury lifestyle space.
The Detroit native was so inspired by her own accomplishments that she wanted to pay it forward with a self-help book, Rich Bi$h Energy: A Self Love Guide To Millions, which was released in early October 2020. "I wanted to do this book because in my personal life, I had to realize that for your business and brand to be consistent, it starts with knowing your worth and setting the standard for how people should treat you. You have to have your mind and energy right in order to have your business right," Mealy told xoNecole.
Rich Bi$h Energy is said to hone in specifically on the relationship between finance and business and the art of self-love, manifestation and self-discovery. Ultimately, Mealy's work of literature is the phrase "create the life you love" in an interactive book with healthy growth-stimulating activities and self-love mantras. Regarding the correlation between self-love and financial security, Mealy shared, "If your peace of mind isn't right, your money isn't going to be right. If you have toxic people or toxic energy around you, you can't perform at your best."
In this installment of "Money Talks", xoNecole spoke with the Unicorn University HBIC about the importance of celebrating the little wins, her exit plan of selling her brand for millions of dollars, and being a dancer at a nightclub to provide for her two kids.
On the most rewarding and challenging parts of establishing Unicorn Universe:
"The most challenging thing I've encountered during my business was actually believing in my brand and knowing that I could be successful at it. Something else that was challenging to me was putting a team in place. I've missed out on a lot of opportunities in business because I was trying to do everything myself. When I finally got out of my own way, and put a team in place, I was able to flourish."
On how much she makes per month:
"$150,000/month. I try to save as much money as I can with my business (around $20,000 a month). I don't have a set number to save."
On her definitions of wealth and success:
"I define success as any goal that you've set out to do and you accomplish it. I feel like that is a reward within itself. I don't think people give themselves enough credit for taking the little steps towards reaching their goals. Small wins count too! Wealth to me is when you build your business or brand up to the point where you've created generational wealth for your family."
On the lowest she’s ever felt when it came to her finances and how she overcame it:
"I remember I was working a 40-hour/week job and I had two kids at the time and I wanted to fix up my kids' room, and I wanted to fix up my kids' bathroom, so I went to Walmart to go shopping for the items, and I didn't have enough to get everything. That was my lowest moment because I felt as though I couldn't provide for my kids.
"I started to hustle, I really got off my ass and started to make things happen! I knew I didn't want to live the way I was living and I knew I wanted to do better for my kids and myself so I started putting 100 percent into achieving my goal of becoming 'overly financially stable'. I took $500 and ordered my first wholesale pieces, and that's when I launched my first-ever online boutique, and being that I already had an Instagram following, I started promoting my business every day and telling as many people as I could about my business, and surely orders started coming in!"
Courtesy of Niya Skyy/Skyy Level Media
"I started to hustle, I really got off my ass and started to make things happen! I knew I didn't want to live the way I was living and I knew I wanted to do better for my kids and myself so I started putting 100 percent into achieving my goal of becoming 'overly financially stable'."
On her biggest splurge to date:
"I'm not a really big spender! I don't make too many crazy purchases. I get gifted a lot of things, and I like to say, 'Don't worry about how I'm having it, just know I'm having it, if you know what I mean.' I've just been fortunate enough to have it. The most expensive thing I've ever gifted was a car for my best friend, it cost about $15,000 and it was significant because she really needed a car at the time so she could get her kids back and forth to where they needed to go. I couldn't stand to see her struggling so I had to step in to help her."
On whether she’s a spender or a saver:
"When it comes to my coins I'm a saver, but when it comes to other people's coins, I'm a big spender! I do a great job at saving my money, I've always been a good saver. However, I've been blessed to be in situations where I haven't really had to spend my own money, such as certain relationships where my partner has taken care of a lot of expenses, which allowed me to save my money."
On her savings goals and what retirement looks like to her:
"Eventually, I would love to sell one of my brands for [millions]. That's my exit plan. I would like to sell my Unicorn Universe USA brand because it's become so popular now. We have dedicated shoppers that purchase anytime we drop a new collection, and it's turned into really a whole unicorn cult, where our customers really feel like they are a part of our unicorn community, so I definitely see that brand continuing to grown. I plan to sell the brand when by time I turn 40 hopefully."
On the importance of investing:
"I reinvest into my own company, because I know I have a strong enough following that I can always bet on my business! I also invest in stocks. My top two grossing stocks are Tesla and Zoom. Eventually I would like to get into real estate and invest that way."
On her intentions behind multiple streams of revenue:
"My intentions behind having multiple streams of income was because when one business gets slow, I always have a Plan B! Thankfully, I have three businesses that are all successful, but at least when one of them gets slow I know I'm not going to starve because I still have other income coming in."
Courtesy of Niya Skyy/Skyy Level Media
"Scared money doesn't make any money! I used to be nervous about investing large amounts of money into my business or spending a lot of money on inventory, but if you want your money to grow, you have to spend money to make money which is why I always invest back into my business."
On unhealthy money habits and mindsets:
"Scared money doesn't make any money! I used to be nervous about investing large amounts of money into my business or spending a lot of money on inventory, but if you want your money to grow, you have to spend money to make money which is why I always invest back into my business. After I started making money from my business and believing in my business, I became more comfortable with taking more risks in my business, and once I did that, everything started to go up from there."
On the craziest thing she’s ever done for money:
"I wouldn't say that this is crazy, but I did use to be a dancer in the strip club. I just remember dancing for $5 [per] song, and that was one of the lowest times of my life, but I had two kids to support so I had to hustle. I started dancing simply because I needed the money, and I needed money fast! I've always known I could dance and have a nice body, and I heard how easy it would be for me to make money so I decided to dance. I'm very open about me being a dancer before and I don't regret it because I did what I had to do to survive at the time."
On the worst money-related decision she’s ever made:
"Being scared, being timid, worrying about if people were going to support my business, instead of just focusing on my business early on in my career. I finally decided to trust my intuition after seeing that I was really, really good at designing. I kind of always knew I had a talent for fashion, but once I started getting custom pieces made and people loved them, I knew it was time to take that big step and move in to designing and honestly me trusting my talent changed my life!"
On her budget breakdown:
How much do you spend on rent?
"$4,500/month."
Eating out/ordering in?
"$2,000/month."
Gas/car note?
"$200 per month [on gas]."
Personal expenses?
"$5,000 per month."
For more information on Brittni, follow her on Instagram and shop Unicorn Universe.
Featured Image Courtesy of Niya Skyy/Skyy Level Media