Tiffany's Take: Opportunity Knocks with Rahkim Sabree & Patrice Washington | Ep. 146

• Tiffany Grant and Rahkim Sabree open the live FinCon 2022 episode. Tiffany shares that this is her first in-person FinCon and that she and Rahkim have been 'besties since 2019.' Patrice Washington is introduced as a veteran attendee on her sixth FinCon in ten years.

This is like a homecoming... It's like we get it. We're all here to help people be better and do better with money.

• Patrice reflects on attending her first FinCon in 2012 when there were only about 100 attendees and very few people of color. She notes the growth to 1,600-1,700 attendees with hundreds of brown faces, calling it encouraging for community change.

I didn't really see anyone that looked like me... And I also didn't see the people that did look like me didn't seem approachable.

• Tiffany introduces her platform's hashtag #riseandlift, emphasizing the multiplier effect happening in the FinCon community where successful creators bring others along.

• Tiffany asks Patrice about barriers between financial literacy and behavior change, specifically for brown communities. Patrice shares how her work shifted from budgets to behavioral interventions after realizing financial struggles often stem from unprocessed trauma.

You don't have a budgeting problem. You have a boundary problem... This is not about budgets. This is not about credit reports.

• Patrice explains that people hold onto clutter and make poor financial decisions because of childhood trauma where things were taken from them. She emphasizes that behavioral finance is a game changer for people of color who have been shamed and need to know they're not crazy—they've been through trauma.

• Tiffany shares her counseling approach: when clients are in tears and can't think straight, she resets by asking them to describe their ideal life. This shifts them from fight-or-flight into possibility thinking.

Dreaming is free. I always tell my clients, dream in full color. Don't police yourself when it comes to dreaming.

• Patrice emphasizes that removing shame is her specialty. She shares her story openly to lower people's resistance so they can actually learn. Tiffany notes that in communities of color, people are always in fight-or-flight mode due to media and systemic factors.

• Patrice recounts her journey: becoming a real estate and mortgage broker at 19, building a seven-figure business by 25, then losing everything in the recession while on hospital bed rest at 20 weeks pregnant. She shares the devastating details of medical debt, foreclosure, repossessions, and moving to Louisiana with no support network.

I went from a seven-figure business to literally scraping up change... I was suffering in silence because I didn't know how to tell people. There was so much shame and guilt and embarrassment.

• Patrice describes her 'come to Jesus moment' on the bathroom floor and discovering Proverbs 17:16, which became the foundation for her business: 'What good is money in the hands of a fool if they have no desire to seek wisdom.'

• Tiffany addresses the stigma around seeking help from government and nonprofits. Patrice shares that she used food stamps for 18 months and voluntarily returned her EBT card when she no longer needed it. She recounts a powerful interaction with a Black woman at the benefits office who told her: 'You paid into this. You need this right now. There's nothing wrong with you.'

In communities of color, what are we taught? You better not tell people your business.

• Patrice explains the premise of her PBS show Opportunity Knocks: helping people know it's okay to get help and connecting them to local resources like CDFIs, nonprofits, and assistance programs they don't know exist.

• Patrice shares that Opportunity Knocks premieres on PBS in October 2022. Viewers can find local air times or use the Opportunity Finder tool at OpportunityKnocks.net by entering their zip code to discover resources in their community.

• Tiffany expresses excitement about using the tool for free financial literacy classes in her local community. The episode wraps with social media handles and calls to action.