
Meet The Nurse Practitioner Who Has The Secret To Making Six Figures A Year

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.
When you think of a nurse practitioner, you may think of the extras from Grey's Anatomy staged behind Jesse Williams. However, this specific one is doing anything but taking a backseat in the audience, especially when it comes to her finances. 44-year-old Princess Lomax is a family nurse practitioner by day and a sports bar owner at night, all while juggling and maintaining her doctoral candidacy at Valparaiso University. Lomax is conducting in-home assessments for the Medicare population and is the proud owner of Diamonds Sports Bar & Grill, so it's no wonder why she's able to write a book on taking your career to the next level.
Courtesy of Princess Lomax
The Atlanta-based serial entrepreneur's best-selling Amazon book 6 Highly Effective Strategies For Making 6 Figures As A Nurse is a compilation of real-life accounts and experiences of entrepreneurship while becoming a nurse. If you're a young Black woman in the healthcare industry looking to elevate your career beyond the examination room and medical jargon, it might be the read for you.
In this installment of "Money Talks," xoNecole spoke with the Chicago-bred nurse practitioner, real estate investor, and bonafide hustler about making well over six figures a year, splurging on her half a million-dollar home and flipping houses as an extra stream of revenue.
On how much she saves per month:
"Right now, I don't have a set goal for saving on a monthly basis, however, I'm in the process of setting up a portfolio that will allow me to start having money automatically deducted from my account that will go towards an IRA and money for investing in stocks."
On her definitions of wealth and success:
"I define wealth as the power to acquire whatever you desire and the power to put other people in positions to become successful. Being wealthy for me is about putting measures in place so that everybody around me can become wealthy also. I have the desire to uplift and motivate the people around me so that we can attain generational wealth and break generational curses.
"I define success as accomplishing and attaining the goals you've set for yourself. Success for me is a never-ending cycle because I'm always thinking of a master plan to achieve something higher than my last accomplishment. Not that I'm never satisfied, but I always push myself to a higher level that surpasses my current level. It's always me against me. I'm always striving to defeat the old me so that my success will continue to grow."
On the lowest she’s ever felt when it came to her finances and how she overcame it:
"I was born poor and raised in the heart of the ghetto so it doesn't get any lower than that. There were times growing up when I wasn't sure where my next meal was coming from. I didn't have the luxury of heat and hot water, so figuring out where I would bath from day to day was once a lifestyle I endured.
"I overcame being poor by thinking rich and pushing myself until I no longer had to figure out where my next meal was going to come from. I sometimes still have fears of not being able to eat, which is why I continue to grind like my next meal is depending on it. I sometimes have flashbacks of my struggling childhood and pray that God continues to bless me so that I will never have to endure those hardships again. So for me, I overcame it by never forgetting my struggle and by pushing myself on a daily basis to stay on top."
Courtesy of Princess Lomax
"I overcame being poor by thinking rich and pushing myself until I no longer had to figure out where my next meal was going to come from. I sometimes still have fears of not being able to eat, which is why I continue to grind like my next meal is depending on it. I sometimes have flashbacks of my struggling childhood and pray that God continues to bless me so that I will never have to endure those hardships again."
On her biggest splurge to date:
"My latest biggest splurge was the purchase of my new home which was over a half of million dollars. Splurging in the past for me has been the purchasing of Chanel bags, Christian Louboutins, and expensive cars. This year, God has allowed me to level up and splurge in a different way. I'm now a homeowner so my splurging this year has been phenomenal."
On whether she’s a spender or a saver:
"Unfortunately, I am a spender and sometimes wish I was a saver. Growing up poor and not having much of anything and not having anyone in my life to teach me about saving has unfortunately hindered me from being a saver. At one point, I was spending more than I was making, but as my entrepreneurship continues to grow, I'm learning how to save and plan for retirement. I'm still in the process of training myself to save and not spend. My training has just begun and plans for my future and retirement are at the beginning stages."
Courtesy of Princess Lomax
"Growing up poor and not having much of anything and not having anyone in my life to teach me about saving has unfortunately hindered me from being a saver. At one point, I was spending more than I was making, but as my entrepreneurship continues to grow, I'm learning how to save and plan for retirement. I'm still in the process of training myself to save and not spend."
On her savings goals and what retirement looks like to her:
"My saving goal is to save a minimum of $20K a month so that I can retire by the age of 50. Retirement for me as a Nurse Practitioner will be within the next 5-10 years and I don't think I'll really ever retire as an entrepreneur."
On the importance of investing:
"Most of my money has been attained via investing, so investing is extremely important to me. I've learned that if I invest in the right assets, my portfolio during retirement will be prosperous. I invest in real estate purchases and acquiring businesses. I invest mostly in real estate in the Chicagoland area and also invest in multiple businesses that will become great assets in the near future."
On her intentions behind multiple streams of revenue:
"My streams of revenue were established by buying and flipping houses and by owning and operating a successful nightclub and sports bar in the Chicagoland area. Having multiple streams of income became a way of life for me after having slow periods with both real estate and the nightlife industry. Having multiple streams of income has allowed me to continue to be successful without having too many periods of dry spells without income coming in."
On unhealthy money habits and mindsets:
"The number one unhealthy habit that I had to restructure is feeling like I always had to go shopping for the latest Chanel bag and or the latest pair of Christian Louboutins. Once I changed my mindset, I saw the bigger picture for saving and investing more. I now know that I can still look and be great while attending parties and/or events without having to buy a new pair of shoes and or a new bag."
Courtesy of Princess Lomax.
"My streams of revenue were established by buying and flipping houses and by owning and operating a successful nightclub and sports bar in the Chicagoland area. Having multiple streams of income has allowed me to continue to be successful without having too many periods of dry spells without income coming in."
On her money mantra:
"Keep God first and don't ever allow the money to change who you are on the inside."
On desperate times calling for desperate measures:
"Yes, yes, and hell yes. I'm not proud of some of the things I've done in my past for financial gain, however, it has been a part of making me the successful female CEO that I am today. "
On the worst money-related decision she’s ever made:
"The worst money-related decision I ever made was not to invest early-on in stocks. I truly feel that if I had invested in stocks like Amazon instead of buying shoes and bags, my portfolio would be near retirement by now."
On her budget breakdown:
How much do you spend on rent?
"I'm a homeowner now, which allows me to spend less on [a] mortgage than I was paying on renting. $4,000 month."
Eating out/ordering in?
"Both $500 per month."
Gas/car note?
"$2,000 per month."
Personal expenses?
"$3,000 per month."
For more of Princess, check out her website.
Featured image courtesy of Princess Lomax
Originally published on October 9, 2020
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Claudia Jordan, Demetria McKinney & Jill Marie Jones On 'Games Women Play' & Dating Over 40
What do you get when you mix unfiltered truths, high-stakes romance, and a few well-timed one-liners? You get Games Women Play—the sizzling new stage play by Je’Caryous Johnson that’s part relationship rollercoaster, part grown-woman group chat.
With a powerhouse cast that includes Claudia Jordan, Demetria McKinney, Jill Marie Jones, Carl Payne, Chico Bean, and Brian J. White, the play dives headfirst into the messy, hilarious, and heart-wrenching games people play for love, power, and peace of mind. And the women leading this story? They’re bringing their whole selves to the stage—and leaving nothing behind.
From Script to Spotlight
The road to Games Women Play started over 20 years ago—literally.
“This script was written 20 years ago,” Jill Marie Jones said with a smile. “It was originally called Men, Money & Gold Diggers, and I was in the film version. So when Je’Caryous called me to bring it to the stage, I was like, ‘Let’s go.’” Now reimagined for 2025, the play is updated with sharp dialogue and modern relationship dynamics that feel all too real.
Demetria McKinney, no stranger to Je’Caryous Johnson’s productions, jumped at the opportunity to join the cast once again. “This is my third time working with him,” she shared. “It was an opportunity to stretch. I’d never been directed by Carl Payne before, and the chance to work with talent I admire—Jill, Claudia, Chico—it was a no-brainer.”
Claudia Jordan joked that she originally saw the role as just another check. “I didn’t take it that seriously at first,” she admitted. “But this is my first full-on tour—and now I’ve got a whole new respect for how hard people work in theater. This ain’t easy.”
Modern Love, Stage Left
The play doesn’t hold back when it comes to the messier parts of love. One jaw-dropping moment comes when a live podcast proposal flips into a prenup bombshell—leaving the audience (and the characters) gasping.
Demetria broke it down with honesty. “People don’t ask the real questions when they date. Like, ‘Do you want kids? How do you feel about money?’ These convos aren’t happening, and then everyone’s confused. That moment in the play—it’s real. That happens all the time.”
Jill chimed in, noting how the play speaks to emotional disconnect. “We’re giving each other different tokens of love. Men might offer security and money. Women, we’re giving our hearts. But there’s a disconnect—and that’s where things fall apart.”
And then Claudia, of course, took it all the way there. “These men don’t even want to sign our prenups now!” she laughed. “They want to live the soft life, too. Wearing units, gloss, getting their brows done. We can’t have nothing! Y’all want to be like us? Then get a damn period and go through menopause.”
Dating Over 40: “You Better Come Correct”
When the conversation turned to real-life relationships, all three women lit up. Their experiences dating in their 40s and 50s have given them both clarity—and zero tolerance for games.
“I feel sexier than I’ve ever felt,” said Jill, who proudly turned 50 in January. “I say what I want. I mean what I say. I’m inside my woman, and I’m not apologizing for it.”
Demetria added that dating now comes with deeper self-awareness. “Anybody in my life is there because I want them there. I’ve worked hard to need nobody. But I’m open to love—as long as you keep doing what got me there in the first place.”
For Claudia, the bar is high—and the peace is priceless. “I’ve worked hard for my peace,” she said. “I’m not dating for food. I’m dating because I want to spend time with you. And honestly, if being with you isn’t better than being alone with my candles and fountains and cats? Then no thanks.”
Channeling Strength & Icon Status
Each actress brings something different to the play—but all of them deliver.
“I actually wish I could be messier on stage,” Claudia joked. “But I think about my grandmother—she was born in 1929, couldn’t even vote or buy a house without a man, and didn’t give a damn. She was fearless. That’s where my strength comes from.”
For Jill, the comparisons to her iconic Girlfriends character Toni Childs aren’t far off—but this role gave her a chance to dig deeper. “If you really understood Toni, you’d see how layered she was. And Paisley is the same—misunderstood, but strong. There’s more to her than people see at first glance.”
Demetria, who juggles singing and acting seamlessly, shared that live theater pushes her in a new way. “Every moment on stage counts. You can’t redo anything. It’s a different kind of love and discipline. You have to give the performance away—live, in the moment—and trust that it lands.”
Laughter, Lessons & Black Girl Gems
The show has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments—and the cast isn’t shy about who steals scenes.
“Chico Bean gets a lot of gasps and laughs,” Claudia said. “And Naomi Booker? Every scene she’s in—she’s hilarious.”
But the play isn’t just about humor. It leaves space for reflection—especially for Black women.
“I hope we get back to the foundation of love and communication,” said Demetria. “A lot of us are in protector mode. But that’s turned into survival mode. We’ve lost softness. We’ve lost connection.”
Claudia agreed. “We’re doing it all—but it’s not because we want to be strong all the time. It’s because we have to be. And I just want women to know: You can have peace, you can be soft. But stop bringing your old pain into new love. Don’t let past heartbreak build walls so high that the right person can’t climb over.”
Final Act: Pack the House
If there’s one thing this cast agrees on, it’s that this play isn’t just entertainment—it’s necessary.
“Atlanta is the Black entertainment hub,” Claudia said. “We need y’all to show up for this play. Support the arts. Support each other. Because when we pack the house, we make space for more stories like this.”
Games Women Play is more than a play—it’s a mirror. You’ll see yourself, your friends, your exes, and maybe even your next chapter. So get ready to laugh, reflect, and maybe even heal—because the games are on.
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Feature image courtesy
Be Careful. Those Casual Friendships Can Be Red Flags Too.
A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to someone vent about an area of frustration that they couldn’t seem to get to the root of — why they keep getting taken advantage of by certain individuals. When you’ve been a life coach for as long as I have (and you were a journalist before that), you learn how to ask certain questions that can cause people to consider things that they may never have before.
So, when I asked her, “What is the common thread with all of those folks? And sit still for two minutes before answering,” when she finally heard her own self speak, her eyes got wide and her mouth dropped open: “They’re all people who I’m not really sure what they are in my life.”
Ding. Ding. DING.
A life coach by the name of Thomas Leonard once said that “Clarity affords focus” and, believe you me, when it comes to dealing with other human beings, if you don’t get clear on where you stand when it comes to your interactions with them, you can very easily find yourself “focusing too much” on those who don’t deserve it and too little on those who absolutely do. And y’all, this lil’ PSA couldn’t be more relevant than when it comes to what I call “casual friendships.”
Let’s dig — and for some of us, dig our way out of — what it means to have a casual friend, so that you can get clear on if you really need those in your life…and if so…why?
Article continues after the video.
It Can’t Be Said Enough: Always Remember What “Casual” Means
There’s a reason why I decided to share two videos by mental health coach Isaiah Frizzle at the top and bottom of this article. It’s because a lot of what he shares in both of them complements a piece that I wrote for the platform last year entitled, “This Is Just What Purposeful Relationships Look Like.”
It’s the author M. Scott Peck who once said, “Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it” and please believe that the older (and hopefully more mature) you get, the more you tend to see just how valuable — and fleeting — time is; and that is what plays a huge role in motivating you want to only involve yourself with people, places, things and ideas that will honor your time — and when something is casual? In my opinion, it’s highly debatable that it’s worth much of your months, days, hours, or even too many of your minutes.
The main reason why is addressed in an article that I wrote back in the day entitled, “We Should Really Rethink The Term 'Casual Sex.'” The gist? When it comes to relationships, “casual” is certainly not a favorite word of mine because I know what it means. Have mercy — why would you want to invest your time, energy, and emotions into something that is, by definition, apathetic, indifferent, careless, lacking emotional intimacy, and/or is without purpose?
I don’t know about y’all but that sounds like a complete and total crap shoot to me — especially if you are going to go so far as to consider this type of dynamic a true friendship (check out “Ever Wonder If A Friend Is Just...Not That Into You?,” “6 Signs You're About To Make A Huge Mistake In Making Them A Close Friend,” “5 Signs Of A Toxic Friendship That Is Secretly Poisoning Your Life,” “12 Friend Facts That Might Cause You To Rethink (Some Of) Your Own,” and “Less & Less Of Us Have Close Friends These Days. Why Is That?” ).
To me, when you decide to call someone “friend,” it means that they are loyal, reliable, consistent, trustworthy and willing to be there to support you to the very best of their ability — even if it’s inconvenient to do so sometimes (check out “Life Taught Me That True Friendships Are 'Inconvenient'”). How in the world can you expect that from something that has the word “casual” in it?
And you know what? That actually segues into my next point about casual friendships pretty darn well.
Ponder the Purpose “Casual Friends” Serve in Your Life
A couple of years ago, Verywell Mind published an article entitled, “How the 4 Types of Friendship Fit Into Your Life.” The four that it listed were acquaintances (which I actually don’t consider to be friends; check out “6 Differences Between A Close Acquaintance And An Actual Friend”), casual friends, close friends, and lifelong friends. After reading the piece, I think they consider casual friends to be the “pleasure” friends that I mentioned in the article, “According To Aristotle, We Need ‘Utility’, ‘Pleasure’ & ‘Good’ Friends.”
And although I certainly get that, I think my “cause for pause” is calling those people “friends” when they probably should be called something like an associate or possibly even a buddy instead. Why do I feel this way? Well, I’ve shared in other articles that I think social media has jacked up vocabulary words and their true meaning on a billion different levels.
Take “friend,” for example. Facebook had us out here calling everyone we connected to on their platform “friends” when some of them, we’ve never even spoken to before — and I personally think that influenced, affected and perhaps even infected our psyche to the point where we will call folks, both online and off, “friend” even when they haven’t earned it and/or who possibly don’t deserve it.
That said, do I think that we all could use lighthearted interactions that don’t go very deep and are filled with not much more than fun? Sure. However, if we were to move this over into a sexual thing — those types of people would probably be called a sneaky link, and there is nothing significant or substantial about ‘em. In fact, if anything pretty much automatically comes with an expiration date, sneaky links would have to be it.
And that’s kind of the point that I’m trying to make about a casual friend — so long as you know that the word “casual” is being used to describe them, while you may enjoy the people who fit that bill, they aren’t really anything that you can or even should fully rely on. Instead, take them for what they are and don’t really expect much more than that. Otherwise, you could be in for some profound levels of disappointment. And who wants that?
Final point.
How a Casual Friend Can Become a Huge Red Flag
I’m telling you, y’all gonna quit clowning Tubi. LOL. To me, the best way to describe it is it’s the Cricket of current streaming apps. What I mean by that is, back when Cricket (the cell phone service) first came out, people, like me, who used it service got incessantly clowned because it was seen as a bootleg provider. Now it’s owned by AT&T, and as someone who has rocked with them since I was in my 20s, I don’t have one regret for doing so. Cricket has always been good to me, chile.
And Tubi? Well, when you get a chance, check out CNBC’s article, “CEO at 33, Tubi’s Anjali Sud on success hacks she learned at Amazon, IAC on way to top of Fox streaming” — take note of the moves the streaming app is making and the quality of programming that is transpiring in real time.
Anyway, I find myself bringing up Tubi more and more in my content because it helps to amplify some of the points that I like to make. This time, it’s a movie that’s (currently) on there calledRight Man, Wrong Woman. If you haven’t seen it before, I don’t want to give too much of the film away. What I will say is that the main female character, she had a casual friend and then she had a close friend.
That casual friend—the one who liked to kick it all of the time—was a lot of fun; however, dealing with her came with a ton of semi-unforeseen consequences. Meanwhile, the close friend? She’s what the Aristotle article (that I mentioned earlier) would call the “good friend” because she tried her best to hold her friend accountable.
And really, it shouldn’t be a shock that the casual friend turned out to be a plum trip because if someone is loads of entertainment and pleasure and yet they are indifferent towards you, they make careless decisions around you and/or they don’t really make known the purpose for you being in their life other than to pass some time — where really do you and that person have to go past drinks after work or dinner on a rooftop restaurant from time to time? And if that is all that the two of you are doing, again, why are they deserving of the word “friend”?
Hmph and don’t get me started on the lack of reciprocity that typically transpires when it comes to dealing with people like this because, while they won’t mind you spending your coins on them, taking their calls in the middle of the night or listening to all of their issues — when it comes time for them to show up for you, they very well may gaslight you into thinking that you are being dramatic, clingy or “doing the most.” Why? Well, it’s mostly because the two of you never really established what the hell the both of you are to one another.
And so, while you’re somewhere taking them seriously, they are out here seeing you casually, and as much as it might hurt to hear, that doesn’t automatically or necessarily make them a bad person. You shouldn’t expect much where no clarity is involved. After all, casual is just that: CASUAL.
____
I’m hoping that you can now see why I entitled this piece in the way that I did. It’s because a red flag is pretty much a warning, and to me, a casual friend is about as big of an oxymoron (again, to me) as casual sex is. Friends and sex are both too intimate to be seen or treated casually. Oh, but if you step out and take that risk, you could find yourself getting far more involved than the other individual ever wanted to go, because casual is how things have always been. “Friend” was simply to get you more mentally and emotionally invested. SMDH.
American columnist Walter Winchell once said, “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” A wise person once said, “One good friendship will outlive forty average loves." Former President Ulysses S. Grant once said, “The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.” Does any of this sound casual to you? Yeah, me neither.
Again, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have people in your life who aren’t on deep levels. I’m just saying that you might want to consider putting them into another category than friend, because what friends do for people? There ain’t nothin’ even remotely casual about it, sis. Not even a lil’ bit.
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Featured image by Shutterstock