Keep it Positive, Sweetie - The Money Mindset w/ Janell Stephens & The Wall Street Trapper

Episode Date: January 19, 2025

In part one of this episode, Janell Stephens, founder and CEO of Camille Rose, opens up about how she built the number one black owned hair care brand, and she also provides some tips to aspiring entrepreneurs. Serial entrepreneur, The Wall Street Trapper, breaks down his spiritual awakening and how he's working to shift the mindsets of the masses toward wealth and entrepreneurship.

Coming up on Keep It Positive, sweetie. Now you're thrown into this huge beauty brand business and you have one of the top selling businesses. What were some of the fundamental things that you even had to learn along the way to really create this business as far as a business mindset? Because it's different than getting in the kitchen and being creative.

Now it's a whole other mindset. I feel like I was born with a hustle mentality, and I don't know if I wanna use the word hustle. I don't know, I like the word, but some people are like, we're entrepreneurs, but I'm an entrepreneur and I'm hustler, so I'm bold. It can't be just about money. No.

Because if we make it just about money, we can't go where we need to go at. No, you can't. So we gotta put God first and say, God yo it says Proverbs 10 and 4 diligent hands build wealth. Poor hands make for lazy. So okay if he tells us to be diligent, let me just be diligent. Hi, I'm Chris Renee Hazlett and this is Keep It Posit, sweetie. A safe space to heal, laugh, grow and love.

Today's show is all about the money and I'm sitting down today with two top-tier entrepreneurs, the Wall Street Trapper and the CEO and founder of Camille Rose Janelle Stevens. As the founder and CEO of the number one black owned haircare brand, Camille Rose Janelle Stevens has carved a beautiful path in the business for herself. Her climb to success hasn't been smooth, but her desire to serve the needs of others has been her source of help all along the way. Janelle, thank you so much for coming today. I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

I appreciate you. You've sponsored and helped me with so many things. We met like once at the gathering spot and I've been a fan of your products. Really? Yeah, it was a while ago. It was at some event, I can't remember which one it was, but I remember we got to talk like right in the front. Oh wow.

We got a photo together, yeah. Yes, I'm happy to be here. It's been a long time coming. It has, I'm so proud of everything that you've accomplished. Same, same. Thank you, thank you. For those of you who don't know,

if you came to the live show for Keep It Positive, sweetie, Janelle and her company, Camille Rose, actually sponsored gift bags for everyone. So I truly appreciate you. And so does the Keep It Positive community. Absolutely. It's always a blessing for us to show up in the community and help out, you know, as much as we can. So thank you for thinking of us. Of course. of course. Well, I wanted to know about Janelle Stevens, the face and the name behind Camille Rose.

We see you on all the shelves in the stores, but I want to learn more about you today. I know. Everybody called me Camille. You're like, that's not my name. My name is Janelle, but hey, so Camille Rose, man, it has been such a blessing for me and super surprised, I'm still surprised that I am even in this industry and God put me on this journey, right?

So I started Camille Rose back in 2011. I just went on this whole quest for all things natural. Not even realizing, or not even wanting to, this is something that I wanna sell. You know, I just went on, okay, I gotta figure out how to have a holistic lifestyle for me and my family. You know, let me research ingredients, have a holistic lifestyle for me and my family.

Let me research ingredients, let me know what I'm using on my body, on my skin, on my hair, for myself and my kids. And doing that just set me on this whole new journey without even realizing what God was doing in my life. I followed the traditional, gotta go to college path, got my masters in science and then pivoted. Just took a step out on faith

and enjoyed the whole process of doing just that. And out of that, Camille Rose was born. Wow, that is beautiful. Your name is Janelle, where did the name Camille Rose come from? Of course, I had to tie it into my grandmother some kind of way, who loved roses, right? And on the date, my grandmother,

I always say she's the original Camille Rose, never went to a doctor. She died when she was like 99, but she didn't look it. Skin was amazing, smooth. And I said, you know what, I want to dedicate my brand to her some type of wedding because she had her own little concoctions that she was making for us if we got sick, you know, her own home remedies. And I think I, of course, super inspired by her.

And on the day of her services, she passed away like in the winter. And her yard that had roses in her front yard, they were all dead, right? And then my aunt looked over and it was one rose that was bloom and full bloom. And my aunt was like, Oh my God, look at that rose. And it was red. It was, it was the rest were dead. It was like, wait a minute, what's happening? And so that's the rose that you see in my silhouettes, my

logo's hair. And my aunt was like, you know, I'm just gonna take that as a sign that, you know, mom is at peace. And so I just wanted to tie my brand into, you know, my grandmother and how much she meant to me. That is beautiful. So you went to college, you had a major that had nothing to do with hair. What was that moment where you were like,

I wanna pivot, I wanna do things naturally, did something happen? You're like, I need to be more cautious about what we're putting on our bodies. So, not even saying that I wanted to pivot, I started having, I was having kids young and thinking, okay, I got my masters now, but and thinking, okay, I got my masters now, but I got all these babies, so it's like hard for me to get out and punch somebody's clock. And then the babies that I had, had suffered from severe eczemas,

and daughter was born with curly hair, my son had curls, and then it's at that moment that you're like, wait a minute, I can't, I gotta be careful. careful like they're too young for me to be using all these chemicals and the crazy stuff and what is this and you know why or the things that I'm buying everything that I'm using nothing is working what is going on it says organic you know and then bringing them to doctor after doctor they're writing a prescription and it's like,

I can't keep doing this. So let me figure this out, you know, like I'm really about to be super mom and just do what I have to do. And research the ingredients of the products that I thought were organic. And that was like, wait a minute, is one organic ingredient in here, you know.

And they just like the label. Wow. Yeah, and I just started teaching myself about herbs and making everything. That's amazing. So at what point did you get the call or know that your products were going to be on display at Walmart, Target, everywhere you turn around. So I think that when I realized that I'm enjoying this, and when I realized that, okay, I'm obsessed with making formulas, is when I realized, okay, I gotta share it. I remember doing this whole diaper rash cream that really worked like the next

day after I use it I called my husband in the room I was like you gotta see this like this is gone that diaper rash is gone like I gotta figure out how to share it not sell it but share it because it was such a struggle for me I'm talking about they were like, their skin was bleeding. Like, okay, I figured this out. And so I was like, I gotta share it. But how do I share it if I'm making it and if it's through a website, like what do I do?

So I remember calling like a laboratory and telling them, hey, I got this cream and this is the ingredients and how do I do this? And they were like, they started talking dollars that I didn't have. Right? And I was frustrated.

I hung the phone up. I was like, ugh, they get it. But then I didn't let that stop me. I was like, well, I can't afford to do it like the right way with the pretty packaging. And so let me just do it myself. Let me throw up a small website and just see how it goes. And then it just went. It just went. Yeah, that is amazing. The fact that you got in the kitchen yourself was like, I'm gonna figure this out. Yeah. I love that. I had everything girl from I was nursing at the time which was super painful. Yeah I heard. So I'm like I'm doing a nipple cream like everything like I would have scratches of a scratch of paper and

taking it to a compound and pharmacist with like ingredients on it and whip this up for me. And they would. And, but it was like, girl, that was three years before Camille Rose was actually a thing. So I just take that as God was grooming me. Like he was putting me on that path without me even realizing it. And without me even putting a ton of pressure on

myself, right? I was in class the whole time. I was in the, and God was the teacher, you know. He has a way of doing that. Yeah. And so it was just a learning lesson those three years that I went through and then he said okay time the time in is now That is amazing. So now you're thrown into this huge beauty brand business and you have one of the top selling businesses what were some of the fundamental Things that you even had to learn along the way To really create this business as far as a business mindset because it's different than getting in the kitchen and being creative. Yeah. It's a whole other mindset. I feel like I was born with like a hustle mentality and I don't know if I

want to use the word hustle. I don't know. I like the word but some people are like we're entrepreneurs but I'm an entrepreneur and I'm hustling so I'm both. And I think I was born with that because Camille Rose, it really wasn't my first business. I had a home health, like a sitting agency before, I'm a therapist. And so when I finished graduate school, I got into like home health and I would hire CNAs, LPNs

to go out into the home and sit with people, older people, people who were stroke victims, that kind of stuff. I had like 35 employees under that company. So I was always like, okay do for self, do for self. Like I think that my family pretty much raised me like that, you know. So that mindset was always there and I was never afraid of work. Yeah, for sure. Never afraid of work. If I punch the clock, I'm gonna work there. And when I got off, I'm gonna work for me twice more, you know, just harder.

So I wasn't scared to do that and I love doing it. You know, it was such a joy when you receive a check that you made for yourself by yourself. That's a bomb feeling, you know, and I wanted more and more of that. Wow, that is amazing. So many people have aspirations to be in the beauty business, but a lot of people are like, oh it's over saturated, like don't do that because everybody's doing it.

What are your thoughts on that? I think that everything is over saturated, right? And I think that if it's your passion and if that's what you really want to do, it'll come. You just got to keep working towards it like every day, like don't put it to the side, don't keep it in your head and you wishing up on a star. I think that don't worry about how big you're gonna grow it, just think about growing it where you are at that moment, you know, and then just keep working towards it and the more you pour into it, it's gonna get bigger. Yeah, I love that.

One of my other questions I always wonder, cause a lot of people, you said you would call people and say, hey, I have these formulas, what I need to do. And they automatically start talking dollars. Did you self fund your business or? Absolutely. Which is one reason I grow, which I tell people grow at the pace that you're comfortable with growing.

I funded it, and my husband, of course, he funded it too, but we did it as we grew. You know, because my goal wasn't, get it to everybody. My goal wasn't even get it in the retail stores. My goal was to, let me throw up this website and use my social media and try to reach people there. When I started my formulas, I went to the, I didn't even know where you would go to buy a bottle or a jar. I went to the grocery store and I bought Mason jars. And I got my little Sharpie and got like this cute little paper from Hobby Lobby and taped that on the jars and that's how I did it. And I was okay with doing it like that until I was able to not only teach myself where do you get a component from, you know? And how do I do this? So it was the pace that I was

comfortable with growing. And I never, I'm so glad I did it like that because it was less stressful. You know? Like I wasn't like, I gotta do this, I gotta get into Target. It was less stressful for me. Yeah. And it made it more enjoyable. That's good. That's amazing. A lot of times when people are the people in their family that have the successful business, a lot of other things come along with it. Have you had to navigate other stresses that came along with you being the one that was successful or had something that really popped from family or friends? Um, how do I... I think I was supported by everybody. Not necessarily. I think things

for me, not think, I think, I know things for me started happening really really quickly. It was like the line order. So most people don't know after that website I threw up. The year later I was in a major a big box retail store. One year later. I knew nothing. When I tell you I don't know what I thought like what they invited me to this meeting to tell my story. I don't know if I was like okay yeah I'm gonna take the meeting with me and this one person that I met and that was it. Girl, I walked in and it was like a ton of people,

a round table full of people. Of course they didn't look like me and I was like, what am I doing here? And that was a little bit intimidating. However, they welcomed me and it was like, tell your story. Like you, when we met, tell that story. And it was so easy to do. And so that following year, Camille Rose was in Target. That is crazy. But yeah, but the people around me, yeah, everybody was pretty supportive.

And they really didn't even, I don't know if they realized what I was doing or how big you know it was gonna get. But yeah. That is awesome. I love that. There is this stigma behind when companies grow from the ground up as yours has and just blows up and then they sell it. There's people that say when you sell it the quality of the product goes down and some people say people are selling out when they sell it the quality of the product goes down and some people say people are selling out when they sell it. What is your mindset behind it? I feel like I grew this because at some point I do want to like not have to work as much. You know you want to make the money but what is

your mindset behind that? I think that people have to sit and do what is best for them and their family because I've met both. I know both companies. Oh my god, like I can name, I don't know if I could name, but yeah it's companies out there right now that I have met super successful that have said no we just want to keep this in our family. And then it's companies out there that's like, I'm building it to sell. I think that that's a personal decision. It's exhausting. It's a lot with any business.

It's a lot. So I think you just have to decide what's best for you and your family. Do I feel that when companies purchase black-owned brands or any whatever black-owned white-owned brands their goal is to see how they can get their money out of it save a dollar and if it's cutting back on certain things. Of course, of course, because it's a business. It becomes like a business to them. And it becomes less of,

this is a real person behind this company, behind this brand, this is my baby, you know? So you just gotta do what's best for you. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, because I mean, I didn't think about that. A lot of times, you don't know how it affects the family because it is so much hands on work. But I do want to say that it's so important for our community

to have ownership and stuff. It's so important because I've never been in corporate. I've never worked in corporate America, always on the medical side, so that's kind of different. But it wasn't until I started having meetings with Camille Rose and going into corporate settings where I'm realizing, damn, it's really not a lot of us in here, right? And it made me think of my children and if they wanted to intern somewhere and, you know, they're competing against companies that are not really owned by us. So, you know, it'll be harder.

And so I think it's so important for us to have ownership in a lot so you can call me and say, hey, my niece wants to intern with you, follow you. Yeah. Yeah, have her come. Or I'll come call you and say, hey, my daughter wants to shadow you. Exactly.

You know what I'm saying? So it's very, very important. I love that. Yeah, I'm really big on ownership. I'm so big on them because you have to, like you said, there's not a lot of opportunities for us. And when you have the ownership, we're able to create more opportunities for our community.

Absolutely. Yeah, I love that. What are some of the biggest hurdles that you've had to overcome with entrepreneurship? Yeah. I know right. So one hurdle that really really stressed me out was finding a manufacturer that believed in what I believed in as far as like the ingredients and when I thought I found one it was this guy he was was like, I'll help you. And I'm like, okay, he was like, but I'm not

purchasing any of your ingredients. Because it's it's food, you know, you don't have to put this in your products. We got this synthetic that's cheaper. And I'm like, I'm not doing that because I would not want to disappoint my clients who's purchasing me online. And then when they see me in the shelf it's a whole different I'm not doing that and then yeah and then you know I want to make sure these products are safe for me to use and my children and my family so I'm not using anything synthetic. That was a problem when I went to the laboratories you know the chemists wouldn't be friendly with me because I call myself a kitchen chemist and I was like, what is that?

I went to school for this, you know what I'm saying? So they didn't want to hear what kind of ingredients I got coming in there. I got a lot of, well, my grandmother lived till she was 199 and 85 and she got perm's and all that kind of stuff. I got a lot of that. So when I found him, he was like, I'll help you out, but you have to send all of your ingredients. So I had Big Palace, Almond Milk, everything sent into his lab. I was just using his tanks. And so that first year I was in the retail store. I made no money.

Made no money. He, girl, he treated me like crap because I was like this little brand and he was doing like bigger brands. It was crazy. And then as I kind of grew in the business and started meeting more and more people, they was like, wait, what issues are you having?

And I would tell them and he was like, what's the art about? No ma'am, that's not small. We'll take you. And I'm like, it's not small? Absolutely not. You know, but he was telling me that. He was playing these for a while.

So he was like double dipping. Like I had to pay him to use his tanks. Yes, it was like a struggle. So that was just, you know, that was a part of my journey, such a hurdle that I had to go through and get through. And then it was at that point I remember telling my husband, all right, I got to drop everything. I got to get out there, hit the streets and find a partner that can help me produce these products.

And not just any partner, right? Somebody who believed in what I believed in. And my God, thank God I did. We're still together till this day. But let me tell you about that story. When I met this lady, a chemist, she was at another laboratory, a big laboratory. We're gelling, right?

We're talking. You can't really talk to, those chemists a lot of times don't wanna talk to you. Right. It's very rare to find somebody that, let me hear your story, what ingredients, what do you know? So I found her and then right when I'm thinking,

okay, let's do this, that company that she worked for went bankrupt. I was like, what are you, what is happening? But for went bankrupt. I was like, what is happening? But she pulled me and she was like, you know what, I wanna go into business myself. There you go, come on. And as I grew, she grew. And you should see her facility today.

Like she bought like these tanks. Girl, yes, so not only was I creating something for me and my family I created jobs for her and tons of people in her in her facility so and we're still together today. I love that, that is beautiful. Now with everything you have going on what do you do to take care of Janelle? What do I do? Oh no, look before that self-care question right? That self-care question that self-care does not exist. But before I was like oh balance I got this work like that. I don't know. I think I pour back into my body which I make sure I'm working out doing something at the gym every day. Mentally now I don't

know I keep saying every year, I need a therapist what is that like never had one, I haven't done that yet. You have to try it. That's what everybody's telling me. No I'm serious it changed my life. It really did. Okay you got you got a well most people don't like to share their therapist so I don't know are you like that? No I'm not I will it. I'm not a gatekeeper. Yeah, you gotta share. Cause I'm like, well, what do you sit there doing? What'd you start talking about?

You only got a hundred thousand bottles. Like, you know, how does it work? You know, so. Yes, exactly. Yeah. But I think exercise to me helps as small as that may sound. That's huge, it's not small.

It helps me, It helps me. Yeah, that's amazing. What is next on the horizon for you and for Camille Rose? Yes, girl, so much but I'm so excited in 2025 Camille Rose skin. Yeah, I gotta pour into the darker skin tone. Yeah, so that's what we're working on now and we'll be releasing that the top of 2025. So that's what we're working on now. And we'll be releasing that the top of 2025. That's amazing. Because you're seeing this flawless. Well, yours too. Thank you. Well, it's gonna be even more flawless when I get some Camille Rose. Period. I love

it. Thank you so much. Thank you. Absolutely. From the streets of New Orleans to shifting the mindsets of the masses towards wealth and entrepreneurship, the Wall Street Trapper is here guys. Trapp what up? What's good family? You made it! It's so surreal just to hear that. Oh. It's so surreal just to hear that to just

knowing how far I came, knowing how far the journey has been and to hear that is so profound. I'm so grateful for that. My top baby there. He's doing big things. I can't disclose everything he's doing. Big things. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm excited. Thank y'all for having me. Thank you for having me. I'm so proud of you. Thank you. So yeah, when we evolved, my heart was like, ah. Ah.

Thank you for that. No, same, when I saw you, I was like, Trav. Yes, getting that fulfillment is important for that. No, same when I say I was like, trap! Yes, getting that fulfillment is important for me. I guess we'll talk about it. I just did the same thing with the guys. As a leader, it is important for the people who rock with me to be on the same journey as me so we can all align.

I got the same right now, it's God and money. So we got to go God first and then we could get the money next. We can get the money because God didn't tell us to be broke. He did not say that. He did not. That is so true. He didn't tell us that. So just uh this journey is so phenomenal. I'm still in awe every step of the way. Yeah it's so beautiful seeing your journey. Like even seeing you be more out loud and like visual with your relationship with Christ. I think it's beautiful. It's because he's been out loud with me. Let's talk about it. He's been out loud with me. My transformation has taken place right in front people's eyes and I've always tried to put God first,

but we was doing a tour. In 2023, we did a tour, and we was doing like six to 700 people, just me, per city. And I went to my guy, Jose, and I said, Jose, the message not coming across like I want and I know why. I said, because God has given me the platform and I ain't giving him the glory. I said that and then from that from that second city on, the first slide on the tour was a

scripture that I would break down. I would do one or two scriptures. The first one was like the man with the talents, right? And I learned that in that time, a talent was equivalent to 20 to 40 years worth of servitude. And I was like, yeah, God and money. God and money. And so that was my way of saying, God, I got you. And so since then, it's just been, this the journey I'm on. And slowly but surely, God is opening up so many ways for me.

And I keep telling people that the more you increase your capacity, the more God will increase your territory. And so for me, increasing my capacity is looking at the parts of me that I'm not sufficient in. Like I'm not patient, right? Because I'm a go-getter. And so I don't wait. Like I had a problem with waiting for God to do it. I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna get it done. And what we realize is that when we do it I always tell Jose that's our best play is not in God's playbook. It's not it's our play

It ain't his play so it's gonna take me longer. And so this year 2024 has been about yielding My heart my spirit spirit, my money, my business and love. Love? Love. Now what part of love? Because the ladies want it now. So I'm 42. Me too. Okay, shout out 40 Club. You know what I'm saying? This is where it's at. Come on. I be telling people. No. 40 is where it's at. So because I come from the streets. Yeah. Born and raised in New Orleans. Went to prison when I was 16 for attempted murder. Saw my mom get shot when I was nine. I emotionally was bankrupt throughout my whole life. The streets didn't allow me

the freedom to have emotion because emotion will get you killed. And so I went through my life keeping women at a distance because I wound up getting robbed because a woman had set me up but it was part of the game so I didn't but I kept the residue of that with me. Yes. Right? And I went through my whole life just on some I can't afford that. And then when I came home from prison I witnessed so many men who would use women to get to other men. And I was a part of that at a point. Like no, like you pretty, you, you know, go do this

for me so we can, it's part of the game. And so that trauma set on me. And so when I became successful, it became even harder. Yep. You know what I'm saying? It became even harder for me to trust and it became harder for me to be vulnerable like that. And then I met somebody who made it worth it in a way, but I wasn't capable. Yeah, already? Wasn't, I didn't know how to express that. And so that forced me to do something I didn't think I would have to do, it was go to therapy. Wow, talk about it. I love hearing black men talk about therapy.

Yeah. Therapy has been so therapeutic. My therapist told me something one day. He said, listen, this is going to be hard. And I said, man, listen, I've been shot. I'm in a prison. And I said, man, listen, I've been shot. I've been in prison. I need to talk about this stuff. But what also helped me was he's a therapist that leads with God. That's important, yeah. Right?

And so I started talking to him about how I felt about seeing my mama get shot. How I felt for me to shoot a man and never deal with that because I thought it was normal. Yeah. How it felt to be shot, how it felt to go to court and get found not guilty and nobody be in the room with me. How it felt for me to do 10 years

and not have people support me, right? Like going through the world as a loner and how I harbored that. And because I didn't have a pathway to express it, I let it callous me. And so therapy became this place where I started to cry. And it felt good. Yeah, oh yes. I want that message to get across that it is okay for our black men to cry. It is. I think our society has made it be strong. Yeah.

Telling them what you're crying for. Like men don't cry, boys don't cry, be a big boy, even from a little boy. You've been a little girl. Yeah, stop acting like that. So you grow up into grown men who don't know how to express themselves or even cry. Yeah, emotionally imprisoned, emotionally incarcerated, feeling that the vulnerability is what makes you weak when in reality the vulnerability makes us strong. It's the ability to say, no, I feel this way about this situation and I need to express it because when you hold it in, it starts to turn into resentment

and resentment can lead to you imploding. Right? and resentment can lead to you imploding. Right? And as a man with a daughter, I never need to implode. I need to be able to show her how much I love her. She needs to know every day that, yo, my daddy loved me. Like in so many different ways. And the only way that I could do that was

being so in touch with myself where, cause I had moments where I would cry and I would be like, man, I can't let my daughter see this. Yes, so you want to wipe it away. Yeah, right. But what is that teaching her? Exactly. You know, when she grows up and gets a man or a husband to know that, hey, it's okay. It's okay. I saw that. And so that's been the journey for me. And so as I went to therapy and I was like, okay, this feels good. And started building these spiritual relationships with people in church.

Yeah. That wasn't me saying, God, I see you. I see you because I'm an infant here. I can't just read the word and interpret it. I need somebody to guide me. Right? And so I had my therapist and then I have these spiritual big brothers come in my life and this year has been the best year for me ever.

I love that. Ever. Doesn't it all come together when you put God first? Like people don't understand when they ask like how? God. Like the moment I intentionally put him first, everything is clear, my choices are wiser. When I study the word, I can apply it to every single day. We just read Proverbs, the whole book of Proverbs.

Such a dope book. So good, and it's the wise, we did a wise up challenge because it's so full of wisdom. And I have, I struggle with patience as well. So praying for that patience, and I feel like God has been well. So praying for that patience. And I feel like God has been testing me all week on this patience.

But in that it was about being slow to anger and taking time to like process things before you just react. And just being wise in all your choices. And I think, especially in the season I'm in my life, being successful, wanting to grow more and continue to elevate, I needed that. You know, and I see it like I see the evidence of him everywhere. I mean, like even this new season, like God is showing like if you trust me and

allow me, I'm gonna put the right people in your life. Because when you said making sure that the people around me are on the same wave. Like you have to. You have to. Yeah. It's because when we are the visionary, the people will not necessarily follow you. They believe in the vision. Yes. Right? And I have to be a conduit.

And anybody that doesn't have the same currency with me throws me off. Yes. Right. And I think about, I think about like when Jesus was walking and the lady touched to him. Who touched me? He was like, who touched me? And they're like, no, no, no, no. Like all these people, he was like, no, no, no, there was a certain type of touch. Yes. It's a certain type of touch. Right. And so for me, I need the people around me to have a certain type of touch, right? And so for me, I need the people around me to have a certain type of touch. So when they following me or when they inspire by me, they're moving in this authentic, that's amazing.

And you talked about the patience. So there's Galatians 5 and 22 is one of my favorites because it talks about the fruit of the spirit. Yes. Right? And inside of it, there's two things that I love. It's depending on what book you read, it'll say forbearance or it'll say long suffering. And then it'll say self-control. Yeah. And the reason why that's important because to be patient is to suffer sometimes.

It is, yeah. It's to suffer sometimes. It is, yeah. It's to suffer sometimes. But it also tells us to wait patiently, we hope, and to rejoice during turmoil. Yeah. So for me, I've been through so much turmoil, and instead of letting the turmoil get me mad, it's like, oh God, at my weakest

is when you work the most. It is, oof. It is. Okay, Beth, I got you. Yeah. I got you. Yeah, because when I'm weak, I know you working. I know you working. You're trying to expose me to something. You're trying to let me see something. You're trying to navigate me to something. So when I get frustrated, I take control. And that's when I lose. Yep. Yes. Yeah. God will test you. The enemy will tempt you. I gotta make sure that I pass the test and not fall for the temptation. That's real.

And whatever the temptation may be, it may, I need to get this done in the time that I needed to get done. I need this to move high. This business not moving. So when I yielded, I said, nah, God, you can have it all. Yeah.

And just give me the instructions. Yeah. And so give me the instructions. And so I'm just walking now with this flow in my life. And I just took them into as a man thinking. Yeah, I saw that. So mind you, my circle is 80% of convicted felons. Only 20% of the people that I know now are people who I've met as an entrepreneur. And so my people from the street be hitting me.

They're like, bro, that God stuff real? This is a question. And for the average person, they'd be like, how could you? No, no, no, because when you in the streets, you asking for God to get you through criminal activity sometimes. God, let me hit this lick because you I need this bread. Right. God I'm about to do this, God please don't let me get hit with a bullet but let him get hit with it. Yeah. Right and so now they see me and they looking at me and they like nah say trap like like you really moving like that. It's a different light yeah. That's God for real? Mm-hmm. Like you serious or that just for Instagram? Right, come on, because there are people that use it just for Instagram. I'm like nah, but it's me. And so they come with me to As A Man,

Think It, and they all have these breakthroughs. Wow. They crying. These gangsters. I'm talking about three of my homies, one did 25 for a 10 murder. He just come home. My other homie did 15 for manslaughter. He been home a few years. The other one did 20 years for murder and then me for a 10 murder. They with me. Yeah. As a man thinking crime, having their own breakthroughs. But it's because I'm the kind doing it. You are, yes, because you listen to God and said, okay, I hear you, I gotta switch this up and get the example, that's incredible.

God, it can't be just about money. No. Because if we make it just about money, we can't go where we need to go at. No, you can't. So we gotta put God first and say, God, like, yo, it says Proverbs 10 and four, diligent hands build wealth.

Poor hands make for lazy. So okay, if he tells us to be diligent, I mean just be diligent. God gives us the ability to produce wealth. So he said, like bro, I don't want y'all to be poor, but you gotta listen to me. So that's why my obedience at. Yeah, I love it.

I love that you're so outward with it. That is so dope. I love that. I saw you at Woman. That is so dope. I love that. I saw you at Woman Evolved and I'm not gonna lie, cause you don't see a lot of men there. So when I turned, when I was hugging people, I just finished the panel and I was hugging people and I looked back and I was like,

Trapp! But I thought it was so beautiful to look down, like yeah, I brought all the ladies in my life. Your daughter, your mom, your sisters, everybody was there and I was like, wow, that was beautiful. And it's a testament to the man that you are and the leader that you are to make sure that even your daughter at a very young age

to say this is where you need to be. Because she needs to, again, everybody around me needs to be a believer. Yep. If you're around me and it's not and what happens is not me pushing my belief on nobody. It's just saying that if I believe this and we there's conversations and there are environments that I'll be in and if you if we're building something and you can't come here with me there's gonna cause a disconnect between us. It's nothing against you but this is where I'm at. Yeah, that's right.

This is where I'm at and so it was first it was the women you know because I have two family members that work in my business and I was like, yo, I'm going to Women Evolve. I want y'all to go. Because me, I want to. I'm the person that when I do something, I'm all in. Like I'm throwing my whole everything into it. So I'm like, God, if I'm on this journey, I'm all in. I'm going to call my mama right now on this journey, I'm all in. I'm gonna call my mama right now. Me and my mama usually be in a car, we listen to rap music, we've been listening

to gospel music, she like, what that is son? Let me download that, I like that. Like I'm all in it. And so they went and it was like, yo, this is good. Right, and let me say something. To see 40,000 women praising God. Mm-hmm. That was something else.

That was an experience. It was. I was telling somebody when me and Big West walked through the metal detectors, I could feel the presence of God before I even got to my seat. I said, ooh, I said, God is here. I'm in the right place.

Wednesday, when I laid it and just went to eat dinner with some ladies God was there. I said, oh God, if I do something, you're gonna do something. And he did like everything that I needed Everything that I've been going through that expressed on the panel that I did. So good. Thank you. So good. Thank you was What I needed to know that I'm doing what God wants me to do in the way that he wants me to do it and it may not look like oh she's not doing it right to other people but I know who I'm reaching in this space you know and a lot of times you look and you compare like well I'm not like Sarah and I'm not like

Priscilla and I'm not like Brenda like you look at all these people that I'm not where they are but in my space I'm reaching people for God. For sure. And I had even got to a place. Big deal. Yeah. Huh? You're a big deal. No, no, no. We so I think sometimes we are and that's a great thing. So I just I told Pastor Donis Maybe like Saturday I was a I Was crying so one thing about therapy is like I've been crying and I'd be okay with it. You had a lot of tears piled up. I'm crying, I'm listening to the word. He came up to me and I looked at him and I said, man, I'm not worthy of this. I'm not worthy of everything that he's given me. I said, I'm not worthy. And he looked at me and he said, because you feel like you're

not worthy is exactly why you are worthy. Listen, yes. You hear me? Yes. He said you gotta downplay yourself. But that humility is why God can keep trusting you. Yes, literally And woman evolve So me and my mom's relationship Has been traumatic Wow for a long time because she dealt with you got things she had when she was 16 in that era where you know 16 year old having a kid and the age like she that they down there like no they off her So she was bold enough to say

I'm a keep him But then she fought her own Demons right which went to her being the street with her being her shooting somebody her robbing her Jack and her being shot the street She's she wound up doing five years in prison. And then I become the residue of that. And for the longest I didn't realize that I had resentment for my mom because you left me, I became homeless. My family didn't take me in. My uncle took me in for a little bit, but I was so wild, he couldn't keep me.

So I'm back in New Orleans and I'm in survival mode. And I didn't realize for the longest that I resented my mom. And as much as I tried to like love her, I loved her, but I could not be around her. If she asked me for five cents, I would be like, why you asking me for money? I ain't give you nothing. Yeah. Wow. And so therapy, my therapist told me you'll never love a woman until you're able to love your mom. Oh, because that's what my mama always said. Why a child man loves his mother and how he treats her

because he's gonna treat you in that same regard. He's like, you love your daughter because that's your flesh, that's your blood, but you'll never love a woman. This is why you're having these issues. Yeah, wow. You gotta get to root of that. So we start working on that.

So we had a woman evolve and I had been working on myself enough and I'm like, mom wants you to come. Wow. Right? And she comes. And I had been working on myself enough and I'm like, mom wants you to come. Right? And she comes and she was kind of like in her phone for a minute and I said, mom, pay attention.

Pay attention. Be present. Put the phone down. I need you to get this right. I need you here. Like this moment is, she don't know but in my mind, this is pivotal for us. Yeah. And I never forget the queen was on there. She was talking about her issue with alcohol.

And I see my pay attention. So my mama started paying attention. She was locked in. And then we went to lunch. And then after lunch, Pastor Donyum said, Trapp, come on the floor. Wow. I was like, no, man, I'm good.

He was like, no, no, no. Come on the floor. And I was like, all right, God, I'm not gonna fight this. So we all get to the floor and worship and everything. And I looked at my mom in the back, she started crying. And I said, God. God was moving that thing. God, so the next day we come, we on the floor.

I said, God. So my friend said, go hug your mama. She needs you right now. So I hugged my mama, she crying, and I just said, God, you working. Yes, wow. And so we go to dinner that night, and I called my friend and I was like,

yo, this is so good. And she said, I want you to know something. She said, you think going to therapy was about your ability to love again and to be able to show me love, but really it was the breakthrough for you and your mom.'" She said, "'Cause I watched how you nurtured her and that's why I'm proud of you. You nurtured her, you pulled her close,

something you wouldn't have done. Yeah, you know. And since woman evolved, we have been, what's up babe, what you doing? Come holler at me. Yes. Right, just that relationship has evolved because when you allow, when you identify what it is, so most people see the triggers,

and when they see the trigger, they keep running away from the trigger, which keep building the callous. So instead of me running away from it, you know, let me embrace it, but let me embrace it with God. Right, let me move the feeling, let me move the act of the flesh to the side.

Let me move the fruit of the spirit because 1 Corinthians 13, four and eight says, love is patient, love is kind, yes, love is gentle and if I can't be that with my mama, then you definitely can't be that with anybody else. Yeah. So I'm just there and so we've been so good, we've been so good, we've been so good and so that's what woman evolved if I love it helped me and my mama's just You know, mm-hmm so good Yes, oh she was

Yeah, her and passage right there just so needed and necessary in this culture because the kingdom I feel like is in a very Isn't a weird space right now, where people are confused and we have so many people wanting to leave the religion because we're not representing it the way that Christ wants us to. And I just love people like her and PT

that are transparent and real, that really like teach the word, you know? that really like teach the word, you know? So. Bishop told me this one day, he said, your authenticity is what's needed today. He said you have charisma, you have transparency, and you have influence. When you let God do it, it'll blow your mind.

And so that's kind of just why I've been there. And when I look at how God uses people, he always uses misfits. This is the rise of the misfits. I'm telling you, literally, that's what I took away. Everybody's like, leaving women involved, and they're like, this is the rise of the unlikely people that are gonna be spreading the gospel. That's it. Yeah, they look like us.

They look like us. And so for me, that's what makes me step in it more proudly, because I'm like, yeah, it's the imperfections that make me relatable. No, for sure. I don't gotta be, they know, yup, trapped, went to prison for this, trapped in this, and now look, and it's so many for me is so many men

That's coming to me and as men it is very hard for a man to come to another man and say I'm following you because we don't know how to do that. No. Yeah, the ego how to do that like I'm all man Oh my yeah, so many men have been how to do that. Like, I'm an old man. I'm old man. And so many men have been coming to me like, say, bro, like, I needed that. Keep doing that. I'm following you, bro.

Now you making me a better father. And I'm getting money. You bringing me close to God. And I'm getting money. I'm getting money. I love it. It's beautiful. If I could describe today's show, it would be money making 101. One of the financial tips that stay with me after talking to Janelle and the Wall Street

Trapper is you have to have a heart of service. Both of them, when they first started out, it was just about helping others and getting them the knowledge that they needed. So service is one of the main things that really stood out because we're so quick and eager to make the money that we forget to be of service to others. Thank you all so much for spending time with me today. I hope you learned some things that you can now use in life and in business. You can follow me on all social media platforms at LoveChristina and you can also follow our show at Keep It Positive, Sweetie. If you want to write into our positive outcomes

listener letter, you can send us an email at keepitpositesweetie at gmail.com. In the meantime, in between time, you guys already know what to do. Keep it positive sweetie. I'll see you guys next time.