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Career Advice We Wish We Knew In Our 20s · What Tha Group Chat Say

• 0:00
  Vonnie: Welcome to What The Group Chat Say, the podcast where the group chat finally got a mic.
• 0:05
  We're three friends in our 40s talking about life, friendships, relationships, and everything we didn't see coming in this decade.
• 0:13
  I'm Vonnie, here with Keya and Drea, I was thinking though, today we talk about… First of all, can I just tell you, my AC issues are still issuing, and it is not the business.
• 0:23
  So, um, yeah, so the tech came out on Saturday then he was like, "Okay, I changed out the internal capacitor." out
• 0:30
  drea: and calm about this right now?
• 0:32
  Like, how are you still being friendly to us and you're
• 0:35
  Vonnie: I call here.
• 0:36
  I call,
• 0:38
  drea: Because I probably would have a
• 0:40
  Vonnie: You do
• 0:41
  drea: with y'all right now.
• 0:41
  Like, "Listen, motherfuckers, I need to go stand in the shower and get in the front of the fan a few times. Can we get this out?" Like, but you're so calm.
• 0:50
  Like- Yeah, I'm
• 0:51
  Vonnie: I called them right away.
• 0:54
  Yeah, I called her right away and she's like, "He's out in Mesa. Let me see if he can make it out there. I'll call you back." She didn't call me back.
• 1:00
  Um, so I already flagged on my, uh, home warranty to call back, like, come back, like it's not working.
• 1:08
  So that's in the system, like you're not ducking and dodging it, so maybe that what made them mad.
• 1:12
  I don't know.
• 1:12
  Um, so I was like, "We can't take…" Like I look over to my dog, now it's hitting, it's like 89 inside the house.
• 1:19
  Um, we go to the movies
• 1:22
  drea: Mm-hmm.
• 1:23
  Vonnie: because it would work in like little spurts.
• 1:25
  You know, maybe like it'd work for an hour and it'd cool it down to like 85, um, 84.
• 1:32
  And so we just went to the movies to see Moana and came back, and it was like 91.
• 1:38
  And dog is panting, and we go to and we get one of the portable ones.
• 1:44
  Yes.
• 1:46
  drea: if for
• 1:47
  Vonnie: And-
• 1:47
  drea: I'd have been like, "Um, let me go… Girl, you should have told me.
• 1:50
  Vonnie: You're like, "I'm through."
• 1:52
  drea: room at, at Harrah's.
• 1:55
  Let me know, girl."
• 1:56
  Vonnie: a-a-and that's what we did because they accepted our dog, and so I thought that we came back Saturday 'cause that's when they were coming to fix it.
• 2:03
  And so, um, yeah, hopefully they better come out Monday.
• 2:07
  drea: motherfuckers would have been known that I'm hot and angry in my house um, ain't no air.
• 2:17
  Vonnie: Me, I bought some popsicles.
• 2:20
  drea: Right.
• 2:22
  Popsicles, bags
• 2:23
  Vonnie: I'll say
• 2:24
  drea: I've, I've already
• 2:26
  Vonnie: Yeah, that's why I'm
• 2:27
  drea: and one of my other friends, if my air go out this
• 2:30
  Vonnie: I got
• 2:31
  drea: I'm staying in that extra room.
• 2:33
  keya: All
• 2:34
  Vonnie: Yeah, Manny asked if I was cooking, and I was like, "Uh, no. I'm not turning this oven or the stove on. I'm not standing over it or doing it." So that's why I was like…
• 2:42
  drea: what the fuck?
• 2:44
  Mm-mm.
• 2:46
  For those of you who
• 2:46
  Vonnie: yeah
• 2:47
  drea: know, we live in Arizona.
• 2:48
  It's like 114 degrees, and having
• 2:52
  Vonnie: Yeah, you can't be without air
• 2:54
  drea: or your car, I've had summers like that when I was broke as fuck, and it gave me PTSD.
• 3:02
  That's probably why I freak out now as soon as it starts getting hot.
• 3:06
  I can't
• 3:06
  Vonnie: When I see people with their windows rolled down, oh, I feel for them.
• 3:11
  I'm just like, "You're whatever.
• 3:12
  You need to get in front of me?
• 3:13
  Pass me.
• 3:14
  Let pass."
• 3:15
  drea: what I'm
• 3:16
  Vonnie: I have no… When I see a windows
• 3:19
  drea: that's what…
• 3:19
  Vonnie: Because somebody's gonna snap.
• 3:22
  Someone with no win- air- AC in their car gonna snap.
• 3:26
  Like, get right in front of me.
• 3:27
  drea: in their
• 3:28
  Vonnie: me off.
• 3:28
  drea: walking down the street.
• 3:30
  You know, an
• 3:30
  Vonnie: They ain't got nothing to lose.
• 3:32
  drea: 'cause at least street… Right, that's what I'm saying.
• 3:34
  Don't fuck with, don't mess with them.
• 3:36
  They might pull
• 3:36
  Vonnie: Don't mess with them.
• 3:37
  drea: and be like, "You know what, motherfucker?
• 3:40
  Vonnie: I was waiting.
• 3:40
  drea: is
• 3:41
  Vonnie: I was waiting for somebody to cross me today
• 3:44
  drea: Right?
• 3:45
  Vonnie: "They go extra fast 'cause they need that wind. They need to produce wind." That's the thing too if you're not from Arizona.
• 3:50
  Not only is it hot, we don't have any wind.
• 3:53
  There's no relief.
• 3:54
  keya: end.
• 3:55
  And then when you
• 3:56
  finally
• 3:56
  drea: and if we do, it's a blow dryer.
• 3:58
  keya: Right, it's
• 3:59
  drea: Yeah.
• 4:00
  Vonnie: I just wanna try to
• 4:01
  drea: a blow dryer.
• 4:02
  It's like blowing a blow dryer in your face.
• 4:05
  Vonnie: Yeah,
• 4:05
  drea: wind
• 4:06
  Vonnie: it's not.
• 4:06
  drea: we get it.
• 4:07
  Vonnie: So the only thing is when you're sitting in that car, at least you're sweating and so then that air will kind of cool you a little bit.
• 4:12
  But that's the only… I mean, it's barely nothing, and your seats are hot.
• 4:16
  I mean, there's no one I feel for more than someone with no AC in the summer in their car, 'cause you gotta go somewhere and you have to drive everywhere.
• 4:24
  The one thing you stop seeing is people walking around anywhere
• 4:27
  keya: Right.
• 4:28
  Vonnie: it hits under 10.
• 4:29
  You don't see folks just strolling down the street.
• 4:32
  Parks are empty.
• 4:33
  Like
• 4:35
  drea: But let me tell y'all, so since we're on that, was many summers when my son was young, and was, I was a broke motherfucker, okay?
• 4:44
  And, you know, I've been working in the field for years, so I go from house to house, my AC broke in my car, and I couldn't fix it for, like,
• 4:52
  Vonnie: Ugh
• 4:52
  drea: couple weeks 'cause I didn't have the money, and I would go from house to house, 114 degrees.
• 4:57
  Now, granted, I was in my late 30s… I mean, my late 20s, early 30s, but it would take me out.
• 5:03
  I would come home
• 5:05
  Vonnie: Mm-hmm.
• 5:06
  drea: and so hot and so sticky
• 5:09
  keya: Mm-hmm.
• 5:10
  drea: it was like I had to do what I had to do because it was like I was broke.
• 5:14
  You know what I'm saying?
• 5:14
  Like, I'm barely in the beginning of my career.
• 5:16
  I gotta feed my kid.
• 5:18
  Ain't no AC in the car, and it was just, oh, I would try to
• 5:22
  keya: Sure
• 5:22
  drea: up with some of my coworkers and be like, "Can I roll with you today?" Like, "What can I do?" Because it was bad, and that ha- th- I swear it happened to me at least four summers in a row.
• 5:34
  Four.
• 5:34
  I remember one time I was trying so hard to pay this car off, but the, the, the h- uh, AC went out, then the radiator went out.
• 5:42
  I rolled up to that dealership.
• 5:43
  That motherfucker dripping, the radiator.
• 5:46
  I was like, "I need a new car, and I need a new car now. I cannot do it anymore." Like, was…
• 5:52
  Vonnie: Wow.
• 5:53
  Yeah.
• 5:54
  Gotta wave the white flag.
• 5:56
  I need something.
• 5:58
  That's why it's so funny because a lot of the used cars, it's like AC runs.
• 6:02
  You're like, 'cause that is… If you're on the cheap, right, and you're like that, I need at least that, the engine could be about to fall out, but if the AC is running cold, I think I can make it work.
• 6:13
  drea: Deal.
• 6:13
  Right.
• 6:14
  Deal.
• 6:15
  Deal
• 6:16
  Vonnie: They're like, "Transmission's slipping." You're like, "I will make it.
• 6:19
  How's that AC?" Because you can't do nothing without it.
• 6:24
  I'll take it.
• 6:25
  keya: be a whole
• 6:26
  Vonnie: Take it.
• 6:27
  keya: but if it got AC, let's run it
• 6:31
  Vonnie: Let's run it.
• 6:32
  drea: what
• 6:32
  Vonnie: Let's do
• 6:33
  drea: I'll pay for my AC to be fixed.
• 6:35
  might roll around with a tire that I gotta go to a used tire shop, but that AC, honey, it's gon- it need to work.
• 6:41
  Vonnie: I just thought, though, talking about or wanting to talk about, like, we are, you know, Drea was talking about when you were broke, but now we're all pretty successful with different types of careers, and we haven't really discussed jobs.
• 6:56
  And, um, I know we have our complaints and it can be a complaint fest.
• 7:00
  But I thought about what if we gave, excuse me, tips.
• 7:05
  Like, for your industry, Drea, for what you do, what is something that if somebody was to go into social work, what should they know that maybe you don't know going in or thinking about it?
• 7:18
  Or what type of personality or temperament should you have, and what maybe educationally do you absolutely need to do, or what could you leave?
• 7:28
  keya: Excellent question
• 7:30
  drea: That's a really good question.
• 7:33
  Um, okay, so as I tell my interns And they do teach it in college a lot, um, and it's actually on multiple universities', um, learning contracts interns have, so they do try to teach it in social work.
• 7:52
  Um, one thing is, if you're going into social work, you need to actually have a degree that says social work if you wanna go up in it.
• 7:59
  Um, some people get their degree in psychology, end up doing s-stuff that's in the social work field, which makes sense 'cause they go hand-in-hand, but there are some jobs where unless your degree says social work, you cannot, have that job, if that makes sense.
• 8:14
  bachelor level, honestly, I always tell people when it comes to social work, unless you know for sure this is what you wanna do and you've had some experience in life, um, I would suggest taking a year off working and seeing if social work is for you.
• 8:31
  So social work degree is very versatile.
• 8:34
  can work in so many different, um, aspects of life, um, as far as, like, you can work in the courts,
• 8:41
  But anyways, but to-- The one frustrating thing about being a social worker is in order for us to get certain jobs, we have to have a master's degree, but yet they don't treat us as if we're highly educated people.
• 8:57
  Um, and so they are trying to do, like, a big reform.
• 9:00
  Um, depending on what you wanna do in social work, before you didn't really need to be a licensed social worker unless you wanted to go into, like, counseling and eventually having your own practice.
• 9:13
  'Cause what a lot of people don't know is you can actually have your own practice, bill insurance companies if you become a LCS- L-I-C-S-W, so an independent licensed social worker, um, but there's steps to that.
• 9:25
  But my biggest thing with people, what I tell people about social work, for one, you gotta truly be someone who's non-biased.
• 9:33
  Um, a lot of people think that they're non-biased, but that's not true.
• 9:37
  I've met many social workers who have this little, um of people.
• 9:43
  Um, uh, if you, if you come in and you assume that Black and Mexican people act like this, you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna feel a little stupid because everybody's different.
• 9:56
  Every family's different.
• 9:57
  Yeah, there's cultural similarities, but you can't group us all together.
• 10:01
  You know what I'm saying?
• 10:02
  Um, and I feel like sometimes the colleges try to teach you that way.
• 10:06
  Um, but also self-care is, like, the number one thing.
• 10:11
  Social workers have one of the highest burnout rates, and so many people quit social work.
• 10:16
  So I always tell people, "Have something else you like to do or you know how to do, because there's gonna come a point where you may not wanna be a social worker anymore." Um, a lot of people, that happens within the first couple years.
• 10:28
  Some people, it takes about 10.
• 10:30
  The nice thing is, though, about social work, like for instance, when I first started social work, I worked with children and families, then I went to mental health, and then I got into hospice.
• 10:39
  Um, so when you get tired of something, you can switch paths.
• 10:43
  That's totally okay.
• 10:45
  But the number one thing with all of them is our job is very mentally… can be ve- very mentally draining.
• 10:51
  You're taking on other people's issues.
• 10:53
  Depending on what part of social work you're in, something's falling on you if something happens, if there's a crisis, things like that.
• 11:01
  So having self-care and good life-work balance is Um, know, like, I can look back and see where I kinda failed sometimes as a mom because I just came home so mentally drained that sometimes I didn't have enough to give to my kid.
• 11:16
  You know what I'm saying?
• 11:17
  Um, or I needed an hour when I got home because I needed to clear my thoughts and reframe my thoughts.
• 11:23
  Um, so I s- I would say the biggest thing is you have to truly wanna help people, but you also have to understand we're not here to, like, fix people.
• 11:31
  We're here to motivate them, not enable them.
• 11:34
  We're here to encourage people to be the better version of themselves.
• 11:38
  Um, we definitely have to believe that people can change, even if they've done the worst things ever.
• 11:43
  Um, and that can be hard sometimes to see.
• 11:46
  Um, and if you come in thinking you're gonna fix everyone, you're gonna, you're gonna fail yourself because some people just don't wanna be fixed, changed, or helped.
• 11:54
  Um, they portray like they do.
• 11:56
  Um, so that's, that's a big thing is like I, my biggest thing, like I tell people all the time is I'm not working harder than the person that I'm providing services or support to.
• 12:10
  why should I work harder for them if they're not willing to do it for themselves?
• 12:13
  then you get disappointed.
• 12:15
  "Oh my gosh, I did all this.
• 12:16
  I got them set up with this appointment.
• 12:18
  I got them this," and then they don't show up, and you're just like, "What the fuck?" You know?
• 12:22
  Um, so it's just little things like that when it comes to social work.
• 12:25
  But definitely if you wanna make decent money, you, you gotta, you gotta, um, either be… work your way up and be a go-getter with a bachelor's, but definitely a master's is where you have to be at the bare minimal.
• 12:38
  Um, I've been in my career so long I never got licensed 'cause I went into hospice, I didn't need it.
• 12:41
  But now so many other jobs, even hospice are starting to want you to be licensed, and I'm just like, "For what?" Because some of the jobs that I'm doing, I don't see the purpose of being licensed.
• 12:52
  But again, that's another thing where they undermine our degree a lot.
• 12:56
  Um, and so, but on the flip side, it's like very rewarding if you l- you know, if you, it's really what you wanna do.
• 13:06
  But the people that I see struggle the most in it are people who never had any common life experiences, right?
• 13:15
  and if they never dealt with anything in their own struggle of life, not saying you can't be a social worker if you didn't, but you gotta be open-minded when you're working with people if you've never kind of experienced hardship or, you know, death or stuff like that in your own personal life.
• 13:32
  Because, um, I'm not saying you can't be empathetic or be sympathetic to people, but Sometimes it helps with not being so judgmental, if that makes sense.
• 13:42
  Um, 'cause I've run into a lot of social
• 13:44
  Vonnie: Keya
• 13:44
  drea: who, "Oh my God, that house," or, "Oh, they live like this." And it's just like everybody has the right to live the way they live.
• 13:51
  You know what I'm saying?
• 13:52
  And we're not here to judge, but just little things like that, um, because some people come into it for the right reasons or some people come into it thinking it's for the right reasons and then realize, um, they ain't built for that shit.
• 14:05
  And it's okay to say you're not because you can go move on to…
• 14:08
  Like I'm getting tired of help- like caring about people's problems, I was like, "Hmm, maybe I'll go into HR now." You know?
• 14:15
  Um, that's something that I really been thinking, but I honestly never thought I would say, "Oh, I don't wanna be a social worker," because my burnout didn't take… Like it took mu- longer for me, for years to even get to that point, of just being like, "I'm over it."
• 14:31
  But I, I have my moments, but I've learned now that I'm not struggling financially, will say that it makes things a lot better for me, like easier, because I can do a lot more outlets that are not just like my self-care of, "Oh, let me paint my own toes." No, I can afford to go get them painted my s- by somebody now, you know?
• 14:50
  Or okay, I'll read a book or maybe I'll watch my favorite movie or listen to some music and, you know, I'll try to decompress.
• 14:57
  Um, but now I can actually like go travel and get away from everything, right?
• 15:02
  Um, so that helps too.
• 15:04
  So I, that would be my biggest thing is like you gotta definitely have good self-care perspective, be non-biased, understand you're not coming into it for the money.
• 15:14
  Not saying you can't make decent money, but there's people with lower degrees than us who make far more money than we do.
• 15:20
  Um, so that would be my little take on it for just social work in general
• 15:28
  keya: That's awesome.
• 15:29
  You would've never thought, um, that social work could branch off into so many different, um, sub-careers.
• 15:41
  drea: Yeah, they think of a child
• 15:43
  Vonnie: That's all they think about.
• 15:44
  Yep
• 15:45
  drea: protective services, and maybe mental health.
• 15:48
  But no, there's so many, so many different careers that you can, you know, go into.
• 15:55
  And then there's different parts of social work.
• 15:57
  So like there's direct practice where you're actually the one who's doing the hands-on care, right?
• 16:03
  You're doing case management, you're meeting with the families, you're assessing.
• 16:06
  Then there's counseling.
• 16:08
  There's the, the counseling part of it, therapy.
• 16:10
  Um, and then there's also the administrative side of things.
• 16:13
  So, um, you can go into administration, you know, administrative work.
• 16:18
  Like some social workers will be like, um, a director in a hospital or work on a unit, on a psych unit, but they're not the ones providing the care.
• 16:27
  The nice thing is like find your interest.
• 16:29
  So like I did substance abuse therapy.
• 16:32
  So like for me, the two things I said I would never do is what I actually was really good at and I did.
• 16:37
  So I always said, um, "I don't… I'm not gonna be a substance abuse therapist.
• 16:40
  I had to deal with people like that my whole fucking life." Sure enough, went into it, I was great at it because I was able to understand the side of the family and as well as be able to see the a- the, how the kids were affected as well as the parent or the person who was like using, right?
• 16:56
  Um, I was really good at it.
• 16:58
  It was like a natural thing.
• 16:59
  I always said, "I'll never work with old people because like they are just so entitled and this and that," which some of them I still feel are.
• 17:06
  They are very, they can be very hard to deal with, but, um, I ended up being really good at it.
• 17:10
  But I also work on the side of like palliative and hospice, so their lives are, you know, not gonna be here too much longer or they're sick or ill.
• 17:20
  Um, and so it's a different level of dealing with them, I guess.
• 17:24
  But I end up realizing like that was probably my calling 'cause I'm really good at that.
• 17:29
  So the nice thing is, is like I said, you sh- I always tell people, "Try this or try that.
• 17:34
  Don't just say you're gonna go straight into this or straight into that because you might get into that and say, 'Yeah, I'm good.
• 17:39
  I'm good.
• 17:40
  I, I can't do mental health.
• 17:41
  I can't… I'm not built for that,'" right?
• 17:44
  Whereas someone else might be like, "Yeah, that's my, that's my thing." 'Cause like I love mental health, it's just I'm not licensed.
• 17:49
  Back then, they didn't pay us as much.
• 17:51
  That's why I switched to hospice, but now they're paying a little better.
• 17:55
  Um, so yeah.
• 17:56
  so much.
• 17:57
  It's like, endless.
• 17:59
  I could probably go on and on, but that's like the little gist of it
• 18:03
  Vonnie: No, that's great.
• 18:04
  And I think that if anybody was thinking about that, I think that's definitely helpful.
• 18:07
  Um, my career's kinda had two lanes.
• 18:09
  You know, I've been with the k- same company for 21 years, but I started on one track, and now I'm on another.
• 18:14
  So, um, I guess advice I would give for tech support, where I started in tech support, um, I don't think that you…
• 18:22
  I mean, it's definitely entry-level, but even now, I don't think that's something that you can do as a career.
• 18:29
  You know, for as young as we were, we made pretty good money, um, doing tech support.
• 18:34
  But since we did, I feel like in America it's hard to have, um, large call centers of tech support.
• 18:44
  Most companies have started to outsource that.
• 18:48
  So to talk about school for a moment, um, you know, there's the computer science or the CIS, Computer Information System.
• 18:55
  Now, you know, you have cybersecurity where you can get your, um, your degree in that or a lot of now with, um, big data, there's data scientists and things like that.
• 19:08
  But what I have learned is on the technical track, the…
• 19:13
  That's less important, having a, a degree, a bachelor's.
• 19:18
  They really want the certifications because unless you're on the management track, you're not really… They're, the well-roundedness, the being a, that type of leader that they teach you in kind of getting your bachelor's, I would say.
• 19:33
  When they're hiring you, especially for, um, you know, if you're doing support for sure, but coding, any of that stuff, they need you to know your stuff, and a lot of that is hands-on.
• 19:49
  So what they have in lieu of that is still educational, but they lean more towards the certifications.
• 19:55
  And so climbing your track, whether it's gonna be Cisco, you can be certified with Amazon, there are different products where you can specialize.
• 20:04
  Um, you're trying to work there.
• 20:07
  They have a… There's boot camps.
• 20:08
  There's a lot of coding and development, you know, workshops and things to do that.
• 20:13
  So, but people who are on that track, um, kinda know all of those things.
• 20:19
  I would say the most time I get asked about advice would be on the project management track that I kind of stumbled myself into.
• 20:27
  And so now currently I manage project and program managers on the technical side of things.
• 20:34
  And for our company, there's technical project managers which are usually IT based and then there's technical which on my end is, um, more construction.
• 20:45
  We call it outside plant based.
• 20:47
  So I'm more in that lane.
• 20:48
  I would more be considered, you know, construction project management.
• 20:53
  We do build outs and things of that nature.
• 20:56
  But nowadays I would say for project management the gold standard is and will always be probably your PMP is what it's called.
• 21:06
  And so that, um, is not just a test you can take.
• 21:10
  It is a lot of studying and it's one of those tests kind of I would say like, um, the bar exam for lawyers would be.
• 21:20
  It's more of taking all of the knowledge and things that you've learned and the questions that they're asking you aren't just, um, route memorization.
• 21:30
  It's more of a did you understand some of these concepts?
• 21:34
  Now I don't have my PMP.
• 21:36
  Um, I didn't go that route with it.
• 21:38
  I still may get it.
• 21:39
  It may depend on if I absolutely have to.
• 21:42
  Obviously do what I have to to keep the job, right?
• 21:44
  Um, but With way project management's going and has been going for, I'd say the last 10 years or so, it's agile, and that's such a buzzword in, in corporate spaces.
• 21:57
  But you have to learn agile.
• 21:59
  Um, you can go into becoming, it's called a scrum master, and that would be being able to run projects with sprints and doing those things.
• 22:09
  Now, for construction project management, we don't usually do that in an agile function.
• 22:14
  For ours, we do, you know, the traditional method is called waterfall, um, because things take a chronological order.
• 22:21
  You're not going to… If you're developing software, things don't have to follow a chronological order, or you can build out and develop things in pieces.
• 22:30
  But if you think about construction, your house has to follow a sort of chronological order.
• 22:34
  You're never gonna build a roof if the foundation's not done, right?
• 22:37
  So there are certain things that need to happen in construction that kind of follow more of a linear path, So definitely learning that as far, uh, um, along with getting your PMP is going to be, um, very helpful as far as your career.
• 22:51
  Um, one of the things that I don't know if they teach you, a lot of people say, you know, project management's like herding cats.
• 22:57
  I would say a lot of it in companies is, you know, it's a well-paid career, but people who are on projects or part of a project team, or sometimes even executives don't understand sometimes what a project manager is there to help you to do or, "Why are we spending this money? Um, I have regular managers. Why can't they just run these projects?"
• 23:20
  And I always say, um, if everything runs smoothly, anybody can be your project manager.
• 23:28
  You don't necessarily need, uh, a specialist.
• 23:30
  That's how they feel, right?
• 23:32
  Um, because usually with a good project manager, maybe it feels like it's running smoothly and you're like, "Oh, this is kinda easy. I could do this."
• 23:39
  What I've seen happen with a lot of non-project managers running projects, the frontline manager is a functional manager, um, when things start to go off the rails, when things change, when you need like kind of these decisions, it's not confined within your own department, that is where it breaks down, and they wish they had a project manager.
• 23:59
  They're usually then trying to get a project manager for a project that's currently already in flight.
• 24:04
  And so it is definitely a skill set of being able to Um, lead people.
• 24:09
  Really, you're managing a team of people who don't report to you, but you have to get them to get this job done, and it's usually on top of their day-to-day work, which, um, you have to be someone who could influence others.
• 24:21
  You have to be somebody who can think on your feet.
• 24:24
  Everyone's gonna come to you with problems, and you have to be able to communicate effectively.
• 24:29
  You need to be able to communicate across all levels because you're talking to your project team, you'll be talking to, um, other stakeholders, and you'll be talking to sometimes executives up to C-suite, depending on the scope of your project, right?
• 24:46
  So you have to be able to maneuver and move in different areas.
• 24:51
  And especially with me dealing with outside plant, I have to have executive speak, but then I'm talking to field technicians or construction technicians and, um, you know, all of that fluff.
• 25:04
  And it can be rough and rugged, especially in the cable industry.
• 25:08
  Um, you know, we can't be delicate flowers.
• 25:11
  It can be difficult as a woman in that career.
• 25:15
  So for me, luckily, coming up in the ranks in tech support, where it's always been difficult for a women- for a woman to break through, especially back when I was doing it.
• 25:25
  So transitioning over into construction, it was really easy to talk to those guys and, um- Are really able to.
• 25:34
  I think that what I found, you know, to Drea's point about finding something that you're good at, I found that bossing men around is just something that I'm good at doing, and no.
• 25:42
  But I get, uh, the job done, so I think that what I'm known for is if you want this to get finished, you know, then I- they usually pass it on to me.
• 25:53
  Um, I would get the hardest ones, whether it's the most important ones, just because if something had to get done and they've gone through all this red tape, it's like, give it to me.
• 26:04
  And, um, so what I'm learning now as a transition is that's not my job anymore to run these projects.
• 26:10
  You know, my job is to, how do I develop my team into being mini-mes of some sort, but still also allowing them to be them?
• 26:19
  So that's really what I've been focused on.
• 26:21
  So now I'm kind of doing these things later when it would've been probably nice to have done it earlier.
• 26:26
  So you never know, and that's why I would never say a degree is a bad thing, um, because you never know what- where your life is going to take you.
• 26:34
  Uh, most of us, it's just a windy path, and sometimes you end up not knowing what, you know, whether it's a calling, whether it was something you were doing just to make ends meet, and turns out you kind of have that aptitude, and it's something that you like doing.
• 26:53
  You know?
• 26:54
  So you never know.
• 26:55
  I mean, I use my brother as an example because my older brother, where, uh, he never…
• 27:00
  He was a sports guy.
• 27:01
  He's super fast, very athletic.
• 27:03
  You would've not thought that he'd end up being like, now he's just got promoted to wealth manager, um, but in stockbroking, all of that.
• 27:12
  You would've never in a million years thought anything to do with like math or wealth or bonds that he would've done.
• 27:20
  And so you kind of don't know what you fall into and the connections that you meet along the way.
• 27:26
  Um, so definitely keep your options open.
• 27:29
  I think the good thing too about college and going to school is just meeting people and that networking.
• 27:35
  It's one of the skills that I struggle with that I have found in my life, especially in the corporate world, people who are naturally good at networking, at making friends, at keeping those connections open, um, they shoot up the ladder.
• 27:51
  And so when you're looking at what's the secret sauce or what are these people doing, it is people who, yes, people who can network find themselves, like, their doors just open for them.
• 28:04
  And so my struggle isn't meeting people, it's keeping that connection open because I'm such a, you know, I like to just keep to myself sometimes, and then I haven't talked to people that I should be consistently reaching out to.
• 28:15
  So, I mean, that is just like anything.
• 28:17
  It- everything is a muscle in adult life.
• 28:19
  You'll find everything is something that you can develop for sure
• 28:23
  drea: Yeah.
• 28:24
  I think you made a good point right there because seen so many successful people who did not go to college, but they are able to talk, learn fast, and, and network and learn what they need to learn.
• 28:36
  You know, those go-getters, there's so many of them out there.
• 28:40
  But you're right, like, having that, that connection, that relationship, keeping that open communication, sometimes it's… That helps.
• 28:48
  I mean, I know for me, like, made a good point.
• 28:51
  Like, most of the jobs that I've got in the past seven years, guys, like, I ain't even had an interview for, because people have met me, I've… You know, I keep in touch or, like, if they need help with something, I'll answer and then say, "Hey, I got this job.
• 29:07
  Do you wanna come help us?
• 29:08
  Hey, I got this job.
• 29:08
  You wanna come help us?
• 29:09
  And also, I think it's important to never be scared to change your path in your career, because just 'cause you've done something for so long doesn't mean you can't switch and do something else.
• 29:20
  like
• 29:20
  Vonnie: No, you are…
• 29:21
  drea: know, that's
• 29:22
  Vonnie: Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, you are so right with that.
• 29:26
  But never being, being open.
• 29:28
  Like, I am where I am now just out of asking a question about being curious.
• 29:33
  Like I s- I've been tech, I've been internet.
• 29:35
  I remember talking to the VP, who is the VP of our outside plant engineering, and I was like, "You know, if I'm trying to get promoted, I, I don't know kind of other things in the company.
• 29:47
  I know internet, but, um, there are so many different parts of how internet comes to you and how you get it.
• 29:57
  Um, and on the outside plant, I mean, it's called, you know, there's layers.
• 30:01
  There's standards and all this technical stuff, but it's the physical layer." And, um, he was… had me travel with his outside plant engineer, and so they had territories or areas.
• 30:13
  And so I just got to travel with him,
• 30:17
  And so in that time, I mean, I'm just, you know, like a sponge, just asking all kinds of questions.
• 30:24
  And we were in Texas, and there was a couple other people who hopped in the car with us, and they were talking about something I didn't understand really at the time.
• 30:35
  And so we're driving around, and they're using words I don't know.
• 30:39
  It's like a whole other language that they're talking about, this field stuff.
• 30:43
  But one thing I keep noticing, um, is that they keep looking up and out of the window, and they're looking up and they're looking at things, and they all seem to be, you know, focused on the same thing.
• 30:55
  And finally, I couldn't take not knowing anymore.
• 30:58
  Um, I was trying to just be, play my position there.
• 31:00
  But I said, "What are you guys looking at out there?" And they were like, "The pole." And I was like, "What's on the pole that you guys care about so much?" And they're like, "You don't know?" And, "I don't know." And they're like, "Chavonne, if we teach you, you're never gonna look at poles the same."
• 31:17
  And I was like, "Okay." And so we get out of the car, and literally they take me to a pole.
• 31:23
  You, uh, we all see these telephone poles along the way when you're driving, and they pointed out all of the things that I, as a regular person, never noticed.
• 31:32
  They just walked through all of them, what they do,
• 31:35
  what it's for, they took me to the pole and explained every little device that you o- anytime you see on a telephone pole, from the fiber to even those little black boxes you might see kinda hanging and dangling off of them, um, when you kind of see, kinda looks like a little horseshoe and things are wrapped around it, and why that happens and, or what that's for, and just all of it.
• 31:58
  And so now it's funny because they're right.
• 32:00
  Anytime I go someplace, another city, another state, I look up at the telephone poles and just kinda see what that workmanship looks like, what's on the poles and things.
• 32:10
  I just can't help it.
• 32:11
  I notice all of that stuff now.
• 32:12
  But it was just such a different world that I learned and, um, started helping them out with their projects, and I think it's just the way my mind works technically in wanting to get to the bottom of things.
• 32:26
  It kind of helped out with that and, and putting it together and, and so that's how I'm able to bridge that gap, and I just position myself as somebody who is a constant.
• 32:38
  There's a lot of change in our industry and then a lot of change in our corporate office.
• 32:42
  But a lot of these field tech people, especially in small towns,
• 32:45
  keya: Yeah,
• 32:46
  Vonnie: they all work there, sometimes straight out of high school, and they've been there, and now they're in their 50s and 60s.
• 32:51
  They never had another job, it's just a way for me to, to bridge that gap between the different, the different departments and just being open.
• 33:00
  So I would've never said I'd be a project manager when I became one.
• 33:05
  And in fact, when I interviewed for the position, I told them I didn't wanna be a project manager.
• 33:10
  I said, "I wanna be a vice president, but what I wanna show is that I know how to manage large pro- large scale projects." And I said, "And for this position that you need, it's more of the relationship."
• 33:20
  And I had the relationship from all the traveling I've done from all these different systems.
• 33:24
  And so yeah, I don't, I wouldn't recommend going into a position you're applying for and saying you don't want that specific position.
• 33:33
  Uh, but it did work for me at that time.
• 33:36
  Um, honesty has always been something that I've led with, and for better or for worse.
• 33:42
  In that case, it worked out.
• 33:43
  But if I'm giving someone interview advice, I would not say to go to a position and saying, "I don't want this position." But think that I had enough of a reputation that they understood what I was trying to say, is that I have bigger goals.
• 33:55
  keya: um, becoming more explosive, 'cause I- the crazy thing is, is people think that AI just showed up on the scene, not looking at how AI has been building since we were, like, 13, 14.
• 34:11
  Like, you know, the, like, AI has always been a thing, but it's just getting more smarter and smarter.
• 34:16
  So with your role being project
• 34:20
  Vonnie: Right
• 34:21
  keya: and everything like that, what is the advice that you would give the people who want to go into this field and not, um, and not get shut out by AI, like, taking their job?
• 34:40
  Vonnie: Keya Right.
• 34:43
  Yeah, that's very important.
• 34:44
  Um, that's a great question.
• 34:46
  And, um AI is touching a lot of different industries.
• 34:51
  I'm one of those people who, especially since I'm, uh, in a technology company, I lean into these new technologies.
• 35:00
  You cannot be afraid of them.
• 35:03
  Even if you are afraid of them, you can't show fear.
• 35:06
  Um, I bridge my gap by learning.
• 35:09
  First of all, if I'm able to do things with AI or help bridge AI gap, then that increases my skill set.
• 35:18
  Um, you know, when you go from things to things, you know, they can't ever take your skills away from you.
• 35:23
  So the things that you've learned still stay with you, and your experiences, all those stay with you.
• 35:29
  So my advice to people would be, first of all, like you said, AI's had so many different iterations, different levels, I would say.
• 35:37
  Maybe a better way would say is different phases it's in.
• 35:41
  So a long phase that we were in was the generative AI phase, and that is when the explosion of all of these GPTs.
• 35:50
  Chat GPT, Claude, um, you know, Google, all of these ones where you talk and they, quote-unquote "talk back," um, that's predictive intelligence and that is, if you ever see the acronym LLM, that's large language modeling.
• 36:08
  And basically what was done during that phase was just feeding it all of our words, all of this data, and so really what a GPT is doing when you're typing into it is it's just predicting words.
• 36:22
  What's the next word that's going to fit here?
• 36:25
  So while it feels like it's intelligent, it's really not.
• 36:28
  Um, it, it's really just predictive, and it's very good at predicting, but that's why it can be vague.
• 36:33
  And once you get to that point where it's consistent, then that AI is kind of helping you.
• 36:38
  And as a project manager, that definitely helps.
• 36:40
  You can utilize these AI tools because communication is such a cornerstone of business to help you communicate more effectively.
• 36:47
  And you can give your, um, your GPT or your AI the lens in which you need it to communicate.
• 36:56
  Like I said, it could be okay for, um, I'm talking to a CEO and I need to explain this, that, and that.
• 37:03
  Now it has a different lens if you're saying, "Okay, I'm talking to a technician and I need to explain this and that on the team." So help it bridge that gap.
• 37:12
  Um, another thing I also… There are, are parts of it, of every business that's human, um, and you really need to make sure you're good at that piece because AI can help streamline things.
• 37:27
  And what it does do What it streamlines is things that are repetitive, and every job has things that are repetitive in nature, and when they look to automate those things, that's what they use AI for.
• 37:40
  Now, humans are more intelligent than just those repetitive things, and so if you can find yourself in a position where that expertise is still valuable, I mean, they can't train that.
• 37:53
  I think that we have seen, and you'll start to see more and more where there's been mass layoffs due to AI.
• 37:58
  Um, I believe this one company, I'll post a link or something, but they end up having to rehire a whole department that they let go because they thought they could automate it.
• 38:09
  But, you know, it's not human.
• 38:11
  It may seem like it knows what it's talking about in the moment, but it makes mistakes.
• 38:15
  And if you don't have a baseline, sometimes when I'm doing it and I look back at what it's given me and I was like, "Uh, you missed something here," or, "Hey, I've asked for this.
• 38:25
  Is it going to do that?" It will lie to you because it's just trying to predict.
• 38:29
  It's not actually being intelligent.
• 38:32
  Now, the next generation, the iteration or phase that we're in AI right now is called agentic AI, and that is where you hear about agents, agents, agents.
• 38:41
  And agents is kind of taking this to the next level, and that is what's kind of helping to replace jobs, um, because they build these agents to do these repetitive tasks, do and take on things to help you.
• 38:56
  So utilize that.
• 38:58
  I try to tell people to learn it enough where it can be a personal assistant.
• 39:03
  You know, they're always looking to streamline Have you do more with less.
• 39:08
  So if you are able to utilize an AI agent to help you do more, I think that then helps you become more valuable.
• 39:18
  What I'm trying to get into now and learning how to even build my own agents, um, to be helpful in that way.
• 39:25
  And then, like you said, you don't know where your career is going to shift.
• 39:28
  So this job that's here now might be named something differently later.
• 39:33
  Um, so I'm always trying to look to build upon my technical skills, and I would think that the biggest mistake I see people making is thinking that if they ignore it, then it's not gonna come for them.
• 39:46
  And with all technology, that has not been the case.
• 39:48
  When computers were just coming on this, the scene here, as far as being more than just something that is a typewriter for you or Word for you, people who ignored computers or didn't wanna learn anything about them, those are people who are the ones that are getting replaced.
• 40:03
  But the people who got proficient with computing, even if it was just Excel and Word and the, those basics there, were more valuable than the people who ignored it and pretended that, you know, they would never learn computers.
• 40:16
  So I say the same thing with AI, like learn what you can, especially if you're in a corporate environment, because m- maybe what your job will be or turn into is being an AI product manager.
• 40:30
  Maybe the company wants to roll out more AI initiatives, and you can utilize your skills there.
• 40:36
  And also, how can you bring AI to the company in various projects?
• 40:40
  So if you're someone who's comfortable with that technology, you can speak to that technology, that's the human piece.
• 40:47
  You being able to… We can adapt pretty quickly.
• 40:49
  I mean, evolution itself is slow, but adaptability of humans is pretty quick.
• 40:54
  And so leaning into that, I think, uh, is what will help you in your career in a corporate type of a function.
• 41:01
  keya: I love that.
• 41:03
  And you taught…
• 41:04
  Vonnie: That was like an interview answer, sorry.
• 41:06
  keya: and you taught me
• 41:07
  drea: No, that's a lot.
• 41:09
  No, 'cause I know people in IT, so no, it makes sense.
• 41:12
  keya: the agents.
• 41:12
  So no, that, that was definitely, um, great info, especially people in the tech world that will, that, um, will be listening
• 41:22
  Vonnie: I mean, it is taking over different areas.
• 41:25
  I mean, you know, you're in real estate utilizing AI and ADOT and, and their knowledge to help you get a jump on the next real estate agent.
• 41:35
  So people who kinda lean into the next big thing, and if it goes away and blows up and, you know, and it does that, you still have some- an extra skill.
• 41:46
  Like, you can still utilize that and, um, use it in some other way.
• 41:49
  So I-- that's why I say you never know.
• 41:51
  There's always when it first comes out, it's the next hot girl, right?
• 41:54
  And so everybody is trying to get close to it, and it might fizzle out or we'll see what it will be.
• 42:01
  You know, computers, what we saw as kids and what they said computers were gonna do, they're not doing yet.
• 42:07
  So it doesn't mean that it's gonna get there, but there's still a whole big lane between nothing and, you know, world takeover.
• 42:17
  My sister is still, every time something comes up, she's like, "I told you it's Skynet.
• 42:21
  It's coming for us." And I'm like, "A, on every one of these movies where a computer or whatever technology takes over, there's always some human who's helping out, and that will be me."
• 42:32
  So I will be putting in whatever virus needs to get plugged into whatever mainframe to help my AI overlords.
• 42:40
  Like, it's coming.
• 42:41
  Um, I want to be on their side
• 42:44
  keya: That part.
• 42:45
  That part.
• 42:47
  drea: Hey, as long as I have you as a friend, I'm good.
• 42:50
  Vonnie: Well, Keya's like growing things.
• 42:52
  Like ev- we all need our people.
• 42:54
  But I was gonna say too, Keya, I mean, definitely talk about starting your own business and then the childcare business and pitfalls and what you know now that you didn't know when you were first starting and stuff like that.
• 43:08
  I mean, I think it's very interesting to…
• 43:09
  I mean, you're really your own boss, and that is really cool,
• 43:14
  keya: childcare is, is one, heck of a business.
• 43:19
  Like, if I didn't have to deal with the parents, oh, it'd be so much great.
• 43:22
  But, um-
• 43:25
  drea: Um, that's how I felt when I worked with children
• 43:28
  keya: are
• 43:28
  drea: and families.
• 43:29
  I was like, if it, if I didn't have to deal with the parents, so
• 43:32
  keya: starting childcare, I would say I was what?
• 43:37
  24, I think.
• 43:38
  24, 25. So I had this, well, balls to the wall," type.
• 43:44
  It, if it works, it works.
• 43:46
  If it doesn't, it doesn't.
• 43:48
  Um, my then husband had moved us all the way out here, like in, in bumfuck Egypt, uh, and, uh, that coming from Mesa.
• 44:04
  So now we were further out, and at the time I, I was a photographer at Sears, um, photography studio.
• 44:15
  So yeah.
• 44:17
  Um, I was like, "I'm not gonna make that drive anymore.
• 44:20
  I need to stay home." and my auntie was doing it in Chicago, so I just kinda had this no fear, like, let's do it." Um, since I didn't go back to school in the classroom and I was only going online, it kinda just Um, I was like, "Well…" What'd you say, Drea?
• 44:46
  Like,
• 44:47
  "Ooh, I love kids and I want more," or, "Nah, this is not it." Um, so I, like, I grew up with my mama.
• 44:59
  She worked childcare my whole life, so, I've seen her just take care of everybody, like kids.
• 45:08
  So when I started, that's why I kinda just had the, okay, it'll work or it won't.
• 45:13
  because the one thing I do know is that I do love kids.
• 45:16
  I've done this my whole life.
• 45:18
  Like, I've been around kids my whole life.
• 45:20
  So I went, um, I tried for a loan um Desert, uh, desert schools, they denied me.
• 45:34
  And then I was like, "Oh, you're not gonna give me money? Fine, I'm gonna switch banks." So I switched to Arizona Financial, literally within that week of just switching, Arizona Financial gave me a loan.
• 45:47
  And so that was enough to
• 45:49
  Vonnie: Mm-hmm.
• 45:50
  keya: start equipping my house to run a business I then, um, started with, uh, trying to advertise.
• 46:04
  So after I got everything set up-- Well, uh, let's back up.
• 46:07
  So before advertising, I had to go through, the licensing office, and I'm not gonna lie to y'all out there, if y'all wanna go through this process, it still is not fun.
• 46:22
  It still is not the best thing.
• 46:26
  They will ding you on everything.
• 46:31
  So please make sure are up to speed with what it is that they are looking for, which is your plugs need to be covered.
• 46:44
  you now need a million dollars in insurance, Um, you need to have fire extinguishers.
• 46:53
  You need to have a exit strategy get out the house if a home is-- if your home catches fire.
• 47:01
  So those are some of the beginning stages, and they come out and they inspect your home.
• 47:07
  But from that point on, when they come and do their pop-up inspections, which is like every six months, unless you get a complaint, and then they come often.
• 47:18
  Um, but every six months, then they'll just inspect the area that, um, the daycare that you'll be running the business in.
• 47:28
  Um- I will say right now what I've learned since starting my business having a big heart in this business is not, not conducive for running a great business.
• 47:48
  Because I have a big heart, I always tend to lean towards, God, I understand because I was a single mom raising kids." So when I get the single mom sob story, always fell for the, "Oh my God, like, Miss Keya, can I pay you, um, next week for this, um, for the upcoming week of care?
• 48:17
  'Cause I can't make it," and da, da, da, da, da, my bills. I'm just like, "Oh, great.
• 48:22
  Yeah, sure." You know? And then that led to people running off that, I was just like, "Wait, what?
• 48:32
  Like, you're just lying."
• 48:33
  But got me into a lot of, "Oh, hell nah." So then I had to start utilizing court.
• 48:42
  So I started suing people 'cause ain't gonna run off with my money.
• 48:47
  So having a big heart, you… Yeah.
• 48:52
  So use discretion,
• 48:56
  drea: I know that's right
• 48:57
  keya: definitely, uh, have you not making the money that you need to make.
• 49:04
  drea: Social work is like that too.
• 49:06
  keya: very
• 49:06
  quickly.
• 49:07
  Um and also
• 49:12
  watch out for, ugh, families that are uptight.
• 49:18
  That's what I have learned.
• 49:20
  But what I realized is there's a certain sect of people who want, want you to be a nanny, but don't wanna pay nanny prices, and they want one-on-one care for their child.
• 49:42
  When you've brought your child to a daycare, th- there's no one-on-one care.
• 49:48
  So be careful of the people that you take in, and this would be whether you're opening a center or a in-home like I am, because becomes a problem.
• 50:03
  I had, I had a parent who brought their child.
• 50:10
  Now mind you, my schedule for diaper changes is every two hours.
• 50:15
  I change diapers if wet poop, you know.
• 50:19
  Unless they poop and then they get changed, know, right away, as soon as I smell it or whatever.
• 50:25
  But every two hours is industry standard.
• 50:29
  and the parent brings the child, mind you, brought the child, already had a rash.
• 50:36
  Whatever.
• 50:37
  Cool, we'll help get rid of it.
• 50:39
  My mom a old school, so she'll brown some flour real quick and she getting rid of rashes quick.
• 50:46
  We get rid of the rash, and they bring the child back and th- th- it's the, it's the father.
• 50:53
  And so he says Y'all are neglecting my baby.
• 50:57
  She's getting rashes.
• 50:59
  What?
• 51:00
  how are-- You brought her to me with the rash, but still trying to work with this family, like I should have known right then that was a red flag.
• 51:11
  But in the beginning, trying to get money and s- start my business, I didn't.
• 51:19
  It was "Okay, well, I can fix this." So then it became, she's sitting in the same diaper all day." Yo, okay, what we gonna do is, you're gonna need to go ahead and take your daughter and find her somewhere, 'cause it sounds like you need a nanny.
• 51:41
  you don't think that we're doing what we know to do, you keep blaming us for her having diaper rashes when she comes in with diaper rashes.
• 51:53
  So I let that father go.
• 51:57
  Fast-forward, the father takes the daughter to some Joe Blow, I guess a neighbor, somebody he went to church with.
• 52:05
  And that neighbor never changed the daughter, apparently, 'cause he comes calling me back.
• 52:12
  "Miss Keya, my God, like it's been so terrible. She's had rash, she's had yeast infections, she's had this, and can she come back?" Nope.
• 52:24
  Not doing it.
• 52:25
  I can't do it.
• 52:26
  Like, oh, he tried to give me all the sob stories.
• 52:30
  watch out for the sob stories, watch out for the families that want special care, because it's not going to do you any good.
• 52:41
  As my mom and them used to say, "All money ain't good money." So let those people pass.
• 52:49
  Vonnie: Yes
• 52:50
  drea: I think that's in any aspect of careers, 'cause I say that all the time too.
• 52:55
  My, all money's not good money, you
• 52:57
  keya: Ab-
• 52:58
  drea: everyone we can help.
• 52:59
  It's just some of it's just not worth what comes with it.
• 53:04
  Vonnie: I think the biggest thing, I think a big thing, especially for women in business too, and part of that that you said, Keya, is about separating that personal from the bus- Like, we wanna be nurturing or you wanna be empathetic, you wanna be helpful, but sometimes business is business and, um, I gotta draw the line.
• 53:20
  My husband's very good at that, and I, sometimes I feel like, it's like, "Babe, you can't…" He's like, "I'm not cutting you a break." And so there's people sometimes asking him if they get a discount, and I looked at that person, I was like, "He wouldn't give his mom a discount." Like, to-- he keeps it business like nobody else I know.
• 53:34
  keya: took me five years, may- g- about five or six years honestly, to actually raise my price.
• 53:44
  So I was undercutting myself.
• 53:46
  So people, do not do that, especially in this industry.
• 53:52
  I know that they say that childcare so expensive, but when you literally it down to how many hours a day that you watch a child to what you actually charge, I literally get paid like two, $3 an hour per child.
• 54:16
  So yes, if you look at, oh, it's $260 week, and mind you, I am the cheapest, like, by far still.
• 54:28
  But if you break that down by, and that's for infants.
• 54:33
  Um, if you break that down by hours that I have your child and the days that they come, I'm literally making like $3 an hour.
• 54:44
  So that's the crazy part.
• 54:45
  That's why I tell people, do not… don't undercut
• 54:51
  drea: Don't be the most expensive
• 54:53
  keya: but do not undercut yourself, 'cause honestly, I need to raise my prices again.
• 54:59
  But because I'm not like Shavonne's husband, which I should be, I didn't raise my prices.
• 55:07
  But I do have now policy, and I've written it in my contract, every year the prices will go up,
• 55:15
  especially now with inflation.
• 55:17
  I can say
• 55:18
  in learning
• 55:19
  about this business with the, the pitfalls of the people that I've been in business, what, 22 years?
• 55:29
  now my business is word of mouth because I've literally raised these children in this neighborhood.
• 55:36
  the crazy part.
• 55:37
  So everything now is word of mouth, and I thank God.
• 55:40
  I don't even… I can't tell you the last time I've advertised.
• 55:46
  And every call that I've gotten is either from, um A family that used to be here,
• 55:54
  Vonnie: That's awesome
• 55:55
  keya: "Oh, I seen your reviews on Google." Mind you, my parents love me, but I think the last Google review I had was years, years ago.
• 56:04
  And that's another thing, people.
• 56:06
  Please have your people write Google reviews.
• 56:10
  You're going to need it, um, because that does help drive traffic to at least them talking to you.
• 56:21
  And it's another thing also with being licensed.
• 56:24
  Um, people want that security.
• 56:28
  Now, in Arizona, you can watch four children and not be licensed, if you want anything more than five, have to have an employee or a worker.
• 56:40
  Stand firm on the care that you provide.
• 56:45
  Um, know, know that you know what you're doing, and don't allow these people to just say, "Oh, you're babysitting." Mm, I am not.
• 56:58
  I am in here teaching your children the basics.
• 57:02
  I'm reading.
• 57:03
  You are an early educator.
• 57:06
  Stand on that.
• 57:08
  let people talk down to you about that because the amount of, you're just a babysitter, um, and you're charging this much," that I've gotten as a woman in business who's going to be providing this care your family member, and I'm just a babysitter?
• 57:28
  Cool.
• 57:29
  And you don't think I'm worth it, you know, there's the door.
• 57:32
  there's, there's certainly an aspect of being a woman in business and then being a Black woman in business at that.
• 57:43
  So, um, that adds another element.
• 57:47
  If you have melanin to your skin, you will definitely have a lot of racists,
• 57:53
  Vonnie: That's unfortunate.
• 57:55
  Yeah
• 57:55
  drea: Yeah, that's true.
• 57:58
  keya: All of
• 57:58
  drea: true with all of us in our jobs
• 58:01
  Vonnie: Right?
• 58:01
  One thing constant , being a, a woman of color
• 58:05
  keya: to prove yourself over and over again.
• 58:08
  Um, so
• 58:10
  drea: Exactly
• 58:12
  keya: So yeah, it's, it's been, it's been a journey, and it's still growing.
• 58:18
  and I thank the Lord that I've been, been here for 22 years.
• 58:23
  how
• 58:23
  drea: Congratulations
• 58:24
  keya: care.
• 58:25
  Vonnie: Congrats, right?
• 58:26
  You gotta be doing something right.
• 58:27
  You gotta be doing something right.
• 58:29
  keya: very grateful and thankful.
• 58:31
  Vonnie: Well, this was great, ladies.
• 58:32
  It was nice just hearing about your expertise.
• 58:36
  You know?
• 58:36
  Like, we're all in different areas, and obviously we've all been in it for a while, and I've learned a lot today.
• 58:43
  So, and anybody interested in these different industries, I think you lear- would've learned a lot on what to do, what to look out for, um, and the good parts too.
• 58:52
  There's good parts to all of our jobs, or else we still wouldn't be doing it.
• 58:56
  We're too old to be dealing with nonsense.
• 58:58
  Although there's day-to-day nonsense with every company but we won't talk about those examples here.
• 59:04
  But, uh, yeah, it was great chatting with you guys All right.
• 59:08
  We're gonna take the group chat offline for now.
• 59:10
  If you laughed, related, or enjoyed the conversation, make sure you like, subscribe, leave a comment, and share this episode with some of your favorite people.
• 59:20
  Follow us on all socials, and we'll catch you on the next time on What The Group Chat Say.