Podcast Summary: Keep It Positive, Sweetie

Episode: Getting to the Money, Love and Success with Ashley Fox
Host: Crystal Renee Hayslett
Guest: Ashley Fox
Date: August 27, 2024

Overview

This episode of “Keep It Positive, Sweetie” centers around themes of financial literacy, self-worth, and personal growth. Host Crystal Renee Hayslett sits down with entrepreneur and former Wall Street financial advisor Ashley Fox. The conversation dives deeply into Ashley’s remarkable journey—from her beginnings in Philadelphia to breaking barriers on Wall Street, to building a mission-driven financial education platform. Along the way, they explore how money and self-perception intertwine, the importance of transparency about struggle, generational shifts in wealth-building, and the role of love—both romantic and self-directed—in personal success.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Ashley’s Background & Journey (02:02–06:39)

• Wall Street Roots: Ashley describes growing up in Philadelphia, attending Howard University, and working her way into a prestigious asset management role at JPMorgan Chase, managing multi-million dollar client portfolios.
• Revelation & Transition: Despite early six-figure success, exposure to true wealth made Ashley realize that financial literacy is not taught to most people—and she herself wasn't on the path to real wealth.
  • She noticed: "Wealthy people either invested in their own ideas or somebody else's idea." (03:22)
• Entrepreneurial Leap & Struggles: Left Wall Street in 2013 with $30,000 savings, only to lose everything, face eviction, and go into debt. "We have this preconceived perception of just entrepreneurship... I thought money came in every two weeks like it did at work. So. So I lost everything." (03:42)
• Birth of Empify: Coined “Empify” (merge of empower + modify) to reflect her mission—not just to teach finance, but to shift mindsets so people feel deserving of wealth.

From Personal Crisis to Empowerment (07:12–10:31)

• Impact of Loss & Self-Discovery: Losing her financial footing forced Ashley to strip away her identity tied to success and money and deal with shame, fear, and inadequacy.
  • "I cried a lot, I drank a lot of wine and I was just really broken on the inside... it forces you to come out." (09:02)
• Importance of Exposure: Ashley credits her time around billionaires with expanding her sense of what is possible—even while struggling, she saw wealth as attainable.

Therapy, Family Dynamics, and Motivation (11:08–12:42)

• First-Generation College Grad: Ashley connects her drive to childhood dynamics—being the oldest, a desire for approval from her “rough” but providing father, and a historical lack of financial precedent in her family.
• The Role of Therapy: Therapy helped identify unhealthy patterns—overachieving to feel loved and moving towards self-healing and intentionality.

Healing & Love: Unpacking Relationship Patterns (12:42–20:03)

• Childhood Reflected in Adult Love: Recognizes her early patterns of emotional distance mirrored her father—and that she let in partners who reflected how she felt about herself.
  • “The partners I had in my life... loved me how I loved me.” (16:21)
• Personal Growth: Through solo travel, therapy, self-care, and intentional inner work, Ashley learned to love herself, setting the stage for healthier relationships.
  • “I realized I didn’t let you love me because I didn’t love myself.” (14:35)
• Manifesting Healthier Love: As she changed internally, she attracted a partner who treated her with the love and respect she gave herself.

Financial Conversations in the Black Community (20:03–25:21)

• Generational Gaps in Money Lessons: Host Crystal shares how her upbringing didn’t include credit or investment education. Ashley encourages breaking the cycle and starting small, intergenerational conversations about money.
• Practical Steps:
  • Open Brokerage Accounts for Kids: “The moment [my niece] got a Social Security number, I opened her a brokerage account.” (21:44)
  • Investment Mindset: “Be more embarrassed that you didn’t start at all.” (23:07)
  • Normalize Family Investing: Doing finances together, talking about stocks, and teaching with transparency.

What Is Empify and How to Get Involved (27:13–31:04)

• Empify Description: Empify is a financial literacy and educational platform—“the Harvard of finance”—with a “No Member Left Behind” policy.
  • “You can’t quit on Ashley, because I know you don’t. You can’t get this anywhere else.” (28:04)
• Features: Community app, targeted courses (stocks, real estate, retirement), book club, annual conference, and supportive peer group. Over 90% of members are African American, aiming to democratize wealth-building and financial education.
• Collective Progress: “Last year, we invested close to $3 million collectively as a unit. These are people that never had investment accounts...” (28:59)

Listener Advice Segment: “Positive Outcomes” (31:51–35:41)

Listener Question: A 30-year-old teacher with a child and several jobs struggles to save money—every time she tries, she has to dip into savings.

Ashley’s Advice:

• “If you keep dipping into your savings, chances are it’s too close to your checking account.” (32:29)
  • Use an online high-yield savings account that takes 1–2 days to transfer out, making the money less accessible (“cloud account”).
  • Start small: take the monthly amount you think you can save, cut it in half, and automate it.
  • Name your accounts for positive intent: e.g., “I’m Built For This Fund” instead of “Emergency Fund.”
  • “Saving, the word saving is like budget. Like, it’s like, I gotta cut back. Or it’s like diet. No. I want to eat. Like, I don’t want to feel constrained.” (34:49)

What Ashley Is Growing Through Now (35:41–39:22)

• Scaling as a CEO: Discusses challenges in scaling Empify from a solo mission to a team-driven organization, learning to hire, trust, lead, and develop company culture.
  • “I want to get so good at finding... and again, I have no blueprint... learning how to let go and lead, because that is the only way you can... build a billion-dollar business.” (39:04)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On shifting mindset:
  “Let me become the translator that translates the Wall Street knowledge for the everyday person. Did not know how, just knew why, and knew I was going to be the woman to do it.” – Ashley Fox (03:33)
• On self-worth & success:
  “Money is a mere, you know, identifier of who you are... it broke me. But... I was around billionaires every day. So my level of what was possible was what I saw.” – Ashley Fox (08:05)
• On overcoming the shame of starting small:
  “We talk ourselves out our own greatness. And we think that starting small is something that's embarrassing. I always tell people, be more embarrassed that you didn't start at all.” – Ashley Fox (23:07)
• On changing the family money legacy:
  “No generation after Ashley Fox and this Fox family is going to have to take out student loans... they're going to live off of a credit card trying to figure out how to build her business.” – Ashley Fox (21:52)
• On personal transformation:
  “I realized I didn’t let you love me because I didn’t love myself. I didn’t think I was worthy of love. So I pushed you away.” – Ashley Fox (14:35)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:02] – Ashley’s journey to Wall Street and motivation for leaving
• [03:33] – Discovering the real wealth game and why financial literacy matters
• [09:02] – The pain and lessons of losing everything
• [14:35] – How childhood impacts romantic relationships and self-love
• [21:44] – Practical steps families can take for generational wealth
• [27:29] – All about Empify and how to get started
• [32:29] – Listener savings advice: keeping savings out of reach
• [35:41] – What Ashley is currently working on as a business leader

Tone & Takeaway

In classic “Keep It Positive, Sweetie” fashion, the conversation is raw, deeply personal, and empowering. Ashley’s vulnerability around her setbacks, coupled with clear and actionable financial advice, provide hope and strategy for listeners at any stage of life or wealth-building.

Episode Ending: “Keep It __________, Sweetie”

• Crystal: “Keep it open-minded, sweetie.” (39:33)
• Ashley: “Keep it aligned, sweetie.” (40:10)

Where to Find Ashley

• Website: empify.com
• Instagram: @_ashleymfox
• TikTok: @theashleymfox

Recap:

This episode offers a holistic journey through money, mindset, healing, and growth. The takeaways are both practical (start small, automate savings, invest early) and soulful (heal, self-actualize, and rewrite your own story). If you’ve ever struggled with money, self-doubt, or the courage to build something new, Ashley’s honesty and Crystal’s warmth will leave you inspired—and ready to take one actionable step towards your positive future.