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April is financial literacy month, and although you could continue avoiding your finances, this month is the perfect time to refocus. Fortunately, Secret Deodorant has launched a financial empowerment initiative to educate 1 million women about finances by providing free resources. Instead of promoting lectures from rich white guys who work on Wall Street, they have brought together Women of Color to share relatable and helpful information about money.
One of the women apart of the initiative is Jamila Souffrant, founder of the blog and brand Journey to Launch, which helps individuals launch into financial freedom. BGN met with Souffrant over Zoom to discuss how financial freedom and independence are possible for every woman.
What does a life of financial freedom look and feel like to you?
A life of financial freedom looks like confidence and resilience regarding your finances and money. There’s a misconception that to obtain freedom and security, you must always feel confident. Yet there are so many things outside our control that we can’t change.
The journey to financial independence means you have options and the ability to choose what you do for work. You’ll go through different stages and make mistakes to get to that point. Financial freedom is when you can feel confident even when you have debt or are still figuring things out.
Financial freedom is also being confident in yourself, having a growth mindset, and knowing that you can get past the economic issues you’re currently experiencing. Sometimes financial independence means standing still in confidence. Not all progress is noticeable. Trust that you are where you’re supposed to be, doing the best with what you have, and learning how to do better.
Why did you share your financial journey on your blog?
My blog was initially called Mrs. Budget Fab, and I started it because I was stuck in a career I didn’t love. I realized I needed a way out when I got pregnant with my first child. So I started googling how to quit my job and create financial freedom, leading to other blogs and podcasts discussing financial independence. Listening to those podcasts and reading those blogs inspired me to share my journey. I was determined to reach financial freedom, and my blog, now called Journey to Launch, was crucial to my success.
When you left your 6-figure job to focus on your blog and pursue your dream, how did you know it was the right move financially and energetically?
Building a financial foundation and having resources were very helpful. Budgeting was a huge and important factor in my confidence to leave behind my 6-figure job. I was pregnant with my third child when I quit my job. In addition to budgeting, I learned about investments and managing my money. I focused on building a financial foundation.
This partnership with Secret means so much to me because now I can provide my Budget Boot Camp — the same process I used when leaving my job, and how I began understanding the inflow and outflow of my money.
If financial independence was a toolbox, what are some essential tools in this box?
First, we have to decide on a vision. What does your version of a financially independent life look like for you? Understand what you want for your life.
Next, a budget is important. It may feel like a restriction, but it is liberation, a way to spend without guilt and within bounds.
Along with a budget, mindset, and habit, which aren’t typically associated with money, are also important. Consider how you feel about your money and how you consistently use it.
Lastly, two powerful tools are income and expenses. Understand your job, and be aware of how you can optimize your expenses to create the lifestyle you want.
What was one of the biggest lessons on your journey to financial independence?
It’s ok to change your mind and do things differently. When I first started, I thought I would invest aggressively and put in the hours, and eventually, I changed my mind. I wanted more balance in my life. One of my biggest lessons was to pivot and follow what would work for me. You can veer off the path if you stay true to yourself and use tools and resources to guide you.
What do you think is stopping most people, particularly women, from reaching financial independence?
A significant barrier is a lack of access to financial education, especially for Women of Color. In addition to the wealth gap, we’re often raised not to talk about money. When women have free tools, it allows women to learn and receive the support they need.
Finances don’t have to be boring, which is why representation matters. For example, whenever I listen to a podcast and someone mentions something about Jamaican culture or going to brunch, I connect to that. Women must know that they can still have fun and be financially empowered.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Since April is financial literacy month, I want to remind women they can have financial freedom and be financially empowered. Whether you are older or younger, you can start today, and this initiative is a great way to get started.
April is financial literacy month, and although you could continue avoiding your finances, this month is the perfect time to refocus. Fortunately, Secret Deodorant has launched a financial empowerment initiative to educate 1 million women about finances by providing free resources. Instead of promoting lectures from rich white guys who work on Wall Street, they have brought together Women of Color to share relatable and helpful information about money.
One of the women apart of the initiative is Jamila Souffrant, founder of the blog and brand Journey to Launch, which helps individuals launch into financial freedom. BGN met with Souffrant over Zoom to discuss how financial freedom and independence are possible for every woman.
What does a life of financial freedom look and feel like to you?
A life of financial freedom looks like confidence and resilience regarding your finances and money. There’s a misconception that to obtain freedom and security, you must always feel confident. Yet there are so many things outside our control that we can’t change.
The journey to financial independence means you have options and the ability to choose what you do for work. You’ll go through different stages and make mistakes to get to that point. Financial freedom is when you can feel confident even when you have debt or are still figuring things out.
Financial freedom is also being confident in yourself, having a growth mindset, and knowing that you can get past the economic issues you’re currently experiencing. Sometimes financial independence means standing still in confidence. Not all progress is noticeable. Trust that you are where you’re supposed to be, doing the best with what you have, and learning how to do better.
Why did you share your financial journey on your blog?
My blog was initially called Mrs. Budget Fab, and I started it because I was stuck in a career I didn’t love. I realized I needed a way out when I got pregnant with my first child. So I started googling how to quit my job and create financial freedom, leading to other blogs and podcasts discussing financial independence. Listening to those podcasts and reading those blogs inspired me to share my journey. I was determined to reach financial freedom, and my blog, now called Journey to Launch, was crucial to my success.
When you left your 6-figure job to focus on your blog and pursue your dream, how did you know it was the right move financially and energetically?
Building a financial foundation and having resources were very helpful. Budgeting was a huge and important factor in my confidence to leave behind my 6-figure job. I was pregnant with my third child when I quit my job. In addition to budgeting, I learned about investments and managing my money. I focused on building a financial foundation.
This partnership with Secret means so much to me because now I can provide my Budget Boot Camp — the same process I used when leaving my job, and how I began understanding the inflow and outflow of my money.
If financial independence was a toolbox, what are some essential tools in this box?
First, we have to decide on a vision. What does your version of a financially independent life look like for you? Understand what you want for your life.
Next, a budget is important. It may feel like a restriction, but it is liberation, a way to spend without guilt and within bounds.
Along with a budget, mindset, and habit, which aren’t typically associated with money, are also important. Consider how you feel about your money and how you consistently use it.
Lastly, two powerful tools are income and expenses. Understand your job, and be aware of how you can optimize your expenses to create the lifestyle you want.
What was one of the biggest lessons on your journey to financial independence?
It’s ok to change your mind and do things differently. When I first started, I thought I would invest aggressively and put in the hours, and eventually, I changed my mind. I wanted more balance in my life. One of my biggest lessons was to pivot and follow what would work for me. You can veer off the path if you stay true to yourself and use tools and resources to guide you.
What do you think is stopping most people, particularly women, from reaching financial independence?
A significant barrier is a lack of access to financial education, especially for Women of Color. In addition to the wealth gap, we’re often raised not to talk about money. When women have free tools, it allows women to learn and receive the support they need.
Finances don’t have to be boring, which is why representation matters. For example, whenever I listen to a podcast and someone mentions something about Jamaican culture or going to brunch, I connect to that. Women must know that they can still have fun and be financially empowered.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Since April is financial literacy month, I want to remind women they can have financial freedom and be financially empowered. Whether you are older or younger, you can start today, and this initiative is a great way to get started.
In addition to the great food and cocktails at your next party, entertain with beautiful coffee table books. They definitely keep a conversation going, and make perfect gifts for friends and family.
Coffee table books are meant to inform, inspire, or engage the reader on a particular subject. You’ve probably even seen people use them as decorative objects, which means they can add to the design of a room. This also makes them great conversation starters in a living room setting.
What better way to honor the Black community, spread the word of our well-deserved triumphs, and even learn more about our history along the way. With thought-provoking anecdotes, essays, and illustrations, these 7 gorgeous hardcovers centering Black artistry are guaranteed to keep everyone talking and entertained for hours.
AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home
Jeanine Hays
This book invites you into the intimate spaces of actors, artists, executives, and curators. It’s a powerful, visually stunning celebration of Black homeownership, told through glorious interiors, along with actual stories of family, community, and history. What I love is that AphroChic provides history behind Black people’s efforts to achieve the goal of homeownership. It speaks to our generational creativity, including the use of treasures from flea markets, family heirlooms, and the African diaspora to create a beautiful, comfortable, safe space.
Black Hollywood: Reimagining Iconic Movie Moments
Carell Augustus
Chronicling Black actors from leading roles in Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster films, this gorgeous anthology is a love letter to all people who rarely see themselves in their totality on screen. It includes a foreword by Forest Whittaker and afterword by Niecy Nash. I read this because I truly love looking at photographs and I loved growing up watching pretty much all the movies showcased in this book. Carell Augustus has an amazing eye for the way he blends these movies with just the right actor to pull off his creative take on iconic movies of the past. The photographs are beautifully and unapologetically Black. This book is what I would’ve loved to have had growing up.
The New Black West: Photographs from America’s Only Touring Black Rodeo
Gabriela Hasbun
Bay Area photographer Gabriela Hasbun captures the joy that happens at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, which honors the historic accomplishments of Black cowboys and hosts a vibrant community dedicated to continuing their legacies. This book is packed with high quality photographs of California and its Black cowboys. I’m almost pressed to say that this is a fashion book as well, with the amazing outfits, boots, hats, and saddles. Even the horses look designer. It was amazing to take a glimpse into a culture I didn’t even know existed.
Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party
Stephen Shames, Erika Huggins
This is a beautiful collection of historical photographs and contemporary conversations with female members of the Black Panther Party. It will absolutely stir up conversation about race, politics, and the ongoing journey of female empowerment in the fight for Black freedom. Did you know the majority of the Black Panthers were women? This is a collection of photographs with notes and reflections from everyday women of the Black Panther Party who were running testing centers for sickle cell, teaching classes, taking care of babies at rallies, running food drives, making art. This is one of those coffee table books that is more than a coffee table book. It is a history lesson. The photographs are organic and hold such beauty. These women are from all over the world. They are resilient. They are the movement.
A Time Before Crack: Photographs from the 1980s
Jamel Shabazz
Hip hop fashion photographer Jemal Shabazz shares photographs of stylish Black men and women on the streets of New York City from the mid-’70s to the mid-’80s, before major municipalities were engulfed in the crack cocaine epidemic. It felt like I was stepping back through time to a period where style and colors looked so amazing. Of course, in seeing this I couldn’t help but feel sad knowing this is a precursor to the crack epidemic. This is a book of photographs but it takes you just as long to get through it as a non-fiction book. In my opinion, the photographs are an act of resistance, and remind you that we can be that way again.
Doris Berger, Rhea L. Combs
As Black artists continue to carve out their own spaces in the entertainment industry, this book sheds light on the impact Black performers have had in perfecting the craft of American film. A curation of essays and academia, the book is a monument to 70 years’ worth of Black cinema and highlights Black filmmakers and creatives. This book accompanies a first-of-its-kind exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Amplifying this underrepresented history in colorful and striking detail, the book features an in-depth essay and case-study on topics such as early Black independent filmmaking, Black spectatorship during the Jim Crow era, and home movies as an essential form of Black self-representation. There are also interviews from contemporary filmmakers. This is an essential resource, especially if you are a movie lover.
Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen
George McCalman
Artist George McCalman provides the stunning artwork of 145 portraits celebrating Black excellence in politics, science, literature, music and more. Featuring writers like James Baldwin and lesser-known names like Madeline Anderson (who produced I Am Somebody, an ode to the 1969 strike of mostly female hospital workers), it’s a true celebration of Black achievement. This book is both beautiful and extensive. I learned about people I had never heard of before and also learned new information about people as well, not to mention the gorgeous art work. This is a great overview of Black history and the people who make up that history. It also is really cool how the author created art for each of the people who were spotlighted. This art really makes this a book that I could see having as a reference. It’s one of those books you may not return if you check out at the library because it’s that gorgeous.
All of these beautiful books are available on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Consider purchasing from Bookshop.org. The platform gives independent bookstores tools to compete online and financial support to help them maintain their presence in local communities.
After years of speculating, in 2022, Marvel Studios confirmed that Deadpool would officially join the MCU for a third installment of the R-rated comic book franchise at the start of Phase Six. This would mark the first official character of the Fox X-Men universe joining the MCU (although Patrick Stewart as a variant Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kinda counts too, we suppose).
In exciting news, according to Deadline, Morena Baccarin and Stefan Kapicic are reprising their roles as Vanessa and Colossus in Deadpool 3. The family is truly coming together once again.
But what else should we expect from the “Merc with the Mouth’s” first MCU entry? We know Hugh Jackman is returning as Wolverine, something he and Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, announced to much fanfare online. (And you can watch that amusing video announcement below).
Here is everything we know so far about the third Deadpool film.
Title
Right now, everyone is calling the film Deadpool 3. However, for superpowered mercenary Wade Wilson’s first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least the first official entry, we think they may choose to give it a more creative title.
A recent bout of friendly banter between Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman teases the possibility of the title being Wolverine and Deadpool.
Also “Wolverine and Deadpool”, bub?
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 4, 2023
Jackman’s slip of the tongue seems casual, but Reynolds specifically alludes to it in his response. Only time will tell if this exchange means anything at all. We’re pretty sure that Deadpool would like the order reversed, one way or the other.
Deadpool 3‘s Plot
The plot of Deadpool 3 remains a mystery. All we know is that Hugh Jackman is returning as Wolverine, and that it takes place before the feral X-Man’s death in Logan. In fact, Jackman has confirmed that time travel will be involved in the threequel in a big way. One rumor suggests that Loki’s Time Variance Authority, or TVA, will have some involvement. But that remains unconfirmed. (We hope it’s true though).
As most folks know by now, Deadpool’s third solo film will reunite him with his X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-star. Deadpool and Wolverine will work together, although they have made it very clear that these two characters “hate each other.” It will not be a love-fest in this story. But the fact that Deadpool 3 is smack in the middle of the Multiverse Saga should give us all a clue as to what’s going to go down, and probable multiversal shenanigans will ensue.
Deadpool 3‘s Cast
Aside from Jackman, we really don’t know which other cast members are coming back. There’s been no official word if Morena Baccarin is coming back as Wade’s love Vanessa. For that matter, no word on Josh Brolin as Cable, or Zazie Beetz as Domino either. We’d like to think one or all of them would appear in some form. The same goes for his X-Men pal Colossus (Stefan Kapicic). We also expect some surprise MCU cameos, but no doubt they will want to keep those ones under wraps.
Meanwhile, Karan Soni, cab driver Dopinder, and Leslie Uggams, Wade’s roomie Blind Al, will be returning in Deadpool 3, according to Deadline.
The Crown star Emma Corrin, who played Lady Diana Spencer on the Netflix show, joined the cast of Deadpool 3.
New addition to the family! The Deadpool family, for clarity. Which is just like a real family except with less swearing… Welcome, Emma Corrin!
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 14, 2023️
Corrin’s role remains unknown, but according to Deadline, she will likely play a villain in the movie. Deadline also reports that Succession‘s Matthew Macfadyen has joined Deadpool 3. With Succession airing its final season, this news is exciting for fans of the series and of the MCU.
Behind the Scenes
Deadpool 3‘s director for this third outing will be Shawn Levy, most recently known for his work on Stranger Things. This would be a reunion for Levy and Reynolds, as the pair previously worked together on the movie Free Guy. Levy is also known for the time travel movie The Adam Project.
On the writing side of things are Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, writers for the popular animated series Bob’s Burgers. The writers for the first two Deadpool films, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, are also contributing to the third film’s screenplay, as is Ryan Reynolds himself.
Deadpool 3 Release Date
As of now, Deadpool 3 has a release date of November 8, 2024, kicking off the MCU’s Phase Six.
Originally published on January 4, 2023.
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