By Ayesha Hana Shaji
Texas Metro News Team
They teach the wealthy to be financially free, but who is there to teach the other end of the socioeconomic ladder, asked Marlon Date, regional leader at Primerica, speaking to Paul Quinn College students at the Stand Out! The Live Tour business workshop for entrepreneurs, presented by Time to Heal America on Tuesday on the HBCU campus.
The event aimed to teach students about business strategies and the basics of event planning.
But one of the greatest events that one can ever plan on, is life, said Dr. Brendalyn Jackson, founder and CEO of Time to Heal America.
Dr. Jackson said she wants to use common event-planning techniques to help students use in their everyday life. A few topics she covered were time management, budgeting, stress-free timeline, self-branding and promotion.
Credit: Ayesha Hana Shaji/ TMN
“Taking care of yourself and living life is a full-time job,” she said. “[If] you don’t plan, it comes and it hurts you eventually.”
Not everyone might be wanting to be an event planner, Dr. Jackson said. But the one thing she said that she would like for the students to take away would be how to plan better for their future.
Health and Wellness Freshman Semiyaes Gatlin said events like these are important to students as they provide a free space for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to discuss finances and ask questions to professionals.
“My real life is starting to start, so I am just starting to pay bills and manage money and I was never really taught the correct way to do it,” he said. “So now I’m kind of seeking help on how to do it, or how to manage it.”
Date introduced the 17 to 21-year-old student audience to the basics of managing finances through financial investments, debt management and income protection.
“Wealthy [people] are taught to invest. Middle class and below are taught to save,” Date said.
While debunking the common myths about financial freedom, Date also made sure to start from the bare basics of differentiating between the different kinds of bank accounts and explaining interest rates.
Many from the Black community don’t get this type of advice or resources, Gatlin said. A lot of the advice comes from the trial and error lived, or observed experiences of family members and peers.
“So I think it’s great for us because now we have another perspective and this perspective is a little more beneficial… and it’s professional,” he said. “It shows us that people actually care about us, you know, and people want to reach out to us and help us succeed.”
Dr. Jackson said her goal over the next two years is to tour HBCUs around the nation and teach students the basics of entrepreneurship. She will also give out $100,000 in scholarships.
Business Therapist Brandon Powell from The Business Therapy Firm also spoke at the event.
