Conquering Fears & Anxieties Interview with Jerrilyn Black

It brings us great pleasure to interview our first Gathering special guest speaker for 2015; Ms. Jerrilyn Black, of J. Francis Black Life Coaching.  Ms. Black is a certified life strategies coach, with a master's degree in social work, and a passion for working with individuals from all walks of life. 

BOND Girl: Thank you Jerrilyn for agreeing to help bring in a brand new and exciting year for BOND Inc. We are in great expectation for our January Gathering “Conquering Fears and Anxieties to Achieve Life Resolutions in the New Year” What better way to start a new year than to attack what scares us most. We feel strongly that this is a topic that affects a lot of women of color, many of which may be too ashamed to actual admit that there are some things in their lives that grips them to having the life that they so deserve.

So, Jerrilyn tell us a little bit about you and why you are passionate about this topic? 

Jerrilyn Black: I am really passionate about helping women overcome their

fears/anxieties to transition to fulfillment because we often hold ourselves back from stepping into our power because fear gets in the way.  Our fears have a way of protecting us, which can be a great thing when we are truly in danger, yet they can be detrimental when they shield us from our greater good.  I really love helping women to have those ‘aha’ moments, when they realize that they have internal power to overcome what’s been holding them back to accomplish their dreams.  I am excited to help women step into the New Year by stepping into their power.  Having a plan of action, or a foundation for change, is incredibly important to keeping those fears in check, and I look forward to assisting women in developing or supplementing their foundations.

BOND Girl: We often hear that many women suffer silently from fear? What do you think may be the cause and what advice would you give to overcome it? 

Jerrilyn Black: Women suffer silently from fear because we wear so many hats during the course of a day (employee, mother, significant other, daughter, sister, friend, etc.), and to admit to fear may mean that one or several of those roles are placed into jeopardy.  Or, we are so used to being ‘superhuman’ to everyone around us, and admitting that we are fearful or anxious may reveal our kryptonite, or a nonexistent clink in our armor.  So, we may tuck the fear away and let it fester, preventing us from accomplishing our dreams (and then this festered fear becomes the real clink or kryptonite).   

"My pieces of advice to overcoming some of our fears is to develop a plan, ask others to hold us accountable, understand where our fears exist inside of us and why, and do at least one thing (big or small) every day to achieve our goals."

BOND Girl: What do you think are the main reasons women are afraid to take that big leap of faith? 

Jerrilyn Black: I believe women are afraid or feel anxious about taking a big leap of faith because we feel there is no safety net if we fall or fail, are afraid of failure itself, believe our dreams are too big to accomplish, don’t know where our leap should even begin, don’t want to make a wrong move or decision, and/or feel that we are alone on our journeys. 

BOND Girl: Who do you think should attend and who could really benefit from this type of Gathering? 

Jerrilyn Black: I believe women who are looking to transition to a life of fulfillment can benefit from this gathering because they will receive tools and techniques to assess their fears and plan for the future.

BOND Girl: Jerrilyn, if you could set the stage for the “Conquering Fears & Anxieties to Achieve Life Resolutions in the New Year? What should our guest expect for that evening? What kind of topics do you expect that our guests will hear January 16th?

Jerrilyn Black: The workshop will be what my sister called a ‘make and take’ where women will interactively engage their fears, and also begin to develop goals/plans for their dreams. When I work with clients one-on-one, they set the stage and typically do most of the talking, and my workshops are no different.  I use my techniques to facilitate dialogue and hopefully change, but I will not talk at you.  It will be a time to share, and have tools to begin overcoming fear to achieve your resolutions, intentions, and goals.  Women will learn how to develop and use SMART goals in their everyday lives, develop their own fear/anxiety scale, reflect on what is holding them back, and translate how to overcome those fears into achieving their dreams.

BOND Girl: Jerrilyn, thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing you

in action this coming Friday, January 16^th.  Before we go are there any other thought’s you’d like to share with our readers? 

Jerrilyn Black: I am really excited to share my tools and techniques with BOND’s guest and friends.  This is a fantastic space for women to learn, share, teach, be authentic, and connect within a sisterly bond (no pun intended), and I am so happy that I could be part of BOND’s amazing start to such a new and fantastic year.

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To read Jerrilyn Black full bio, CLICK HERE. 

First Gathering of 2015- Learn to Conquer Your Fears

You are cordially invited to attend our first Gathering of 2015!! 

"Conquering Fears & Anxieties  to Achieve Life Resolutions in the New Year"

Please note the price will increase at the door.

Read guest speaker Jerrilyn Black bio here

Click here for the interview with Jerrilyn Black

Clothing Swap Party- BOND Girl Style!!!

Ohhhh weeee. We are planning to have a grand ole' time at our next BOND Gathering. You gotta any gentle used or new items in your closet that you've been holding onto? Maybe its too big, too small, or just an impulse buy that you have no intentions of every wearing. Well here's your chance to get rid of them and swap them for something else you want or need.  Join us for our upcoming July Gathering- We present to you Clothing Swap Party- BOND Girl Style.

 

 

 

 

Friday, July 18th @ 7:30

1500 Union Ave, Baltimore, MD

 

As always there will  be giveaways, great food, laughter, fun and an exciting time amongst women. A chance to let our hair down, relax and have some good ol' fashion BONDing. In addition to the swap we will have a guest speaker to share with us the ends and outs to Extreme Couponing. You don't want to miss it. If that wasn't enough there will be a number of vendors on site. So bring some cash along with you. 

 

 

See you all there!!!



Discipline Not Deprivation Explained Interview

We here at BOND Inc are excited to share with you the interview with our upcoming special guest speaker Dr. Maria James, founder of Pocket of Money, LLC. What better way to start off a brand new year than to discuss such a topic as finances.

BOND Girl: Hello Dr. James, thank you for allowing the time to interview you for the upcoming January Gathering discussion on finances. Could you tell our readers a little bit about you?

Dr. James: I've always loved finance from the beginning. Coming from a large family, I discovered a lot about managing money growing up and discovered my skills with organizing and handling money. I opened an entrepreneurial business at the age of ten by selling juleps (a frozen treat made from juice) for 25 cents a cup during the summer and I learned important lessons about business and finance. Those lessons lasted forever and over the years I was always reading things that dealt with personal finance.

Graduate school allowed me to further develop strategic planning and scientific analytical thinking and apply those methods to money management. The Money Scientist was born. On a stipend of $27,000 (about $23,000 after taxes), I saved over $10,000. Applying scientific methodology to money allowed me to create a money strategy that elevated my lifestyle and grew a nonprofit. As of 2013, I have been the Director of Finance at HWHN for eight years. 

BOND Girl: Why should folks really be concerned about how they view money and their habits with money? 

Dr. James: Financial success is important as money touches every aspect of our lives. Your money mindset (your ideology around money or the way you view acquiring and spending money), greatly influences your money habits and therefore affects your financial success. Your money habits determine how well you'll manage your income, how well you'll save, and build wealth. Knowing your money mindset helps you to work with it and develop better money habits so you can build wealth.

BOND Girl: Where do you think most women go wrong when it comes to their finances?

Dr. James: I find many mistakes are more likely to correlate with age and lack of personal finance education. I believe not pursuing personal finance literacy is one of the top mistakes. Allowing someone else to handle all aspects of your finances, e.g. the spending plan, taxes, insurance, investing etc, is another top mistake. In the past this mistake was more commonly found in married women, but as more women are empowered about finances and take an active role in the money management, that is changing.

BOND Girl: Any recommendations for women who are looking to get married? How should they handle the topic on finances with their potential spouse?

Dr. James: Communication is king and queen.  Disagreements and miscommunication about money is one of the leading causes of marital arguments and divorce. Discuss with

your potential spouse your past financial history. Both parties should be well aware of any debt or financial obligations the other person will bring into the marriage. Discuss each person's money mindset and emotions surrounding money, what is each person's background e.g. from homes of lack or plenty.  Discuss how finances will be handled and how financial burdens will be shared, e.g. joint vs separate accounts. There is no one right way for sharing the finances, as long as each partner fully agrees and is committed to the plan. Do what works for you as a couple.

BOND Girl: What would you say to the sister who is over her head in debt and sees no end in sight?

Dr. James: There is hope. When you feel out of control of your money, there's a lot of stress and confusion as to what should be the next step, where to start. The first step is to determine who you owe and how much you owe them. Get very clear on the numbers, this can be overwhelming but it is a necessary first step. The next step is to design a money strategy to determine how much you can use to pay down the debt and how to cut costs or increase income to pay down the debt even faster. The third step is to pick the account with the smallest amount and pay that first. This provides a nice boost of confidence and strengthens your resolve, this is very important. Once that first account is completely paid off. You move on to the debt that has the next smallest amount, and the next and the next until you're done. You do what you can, the key thing is to make the commitment to paying off all your debt and to start!

BOND Girl: Dr. James, if you could set the stage for the “Discipline not Deprivation” January BOND Gathering- what should our guest expect for that evening?

Dr. James: All participants should expect an interactive workshop where they will receive information on key personal finance concepts that will allow them to get financially fit. The information will help them to save money, reduce debt, and position themselves to build wealth while still enjoying the now.

BOND Girl: So say I’m the type of woman who’s pretty good with saving money and paying my bills on time, would I find any benefit in attending this January Gathering?

Dr. James: Yes! Income and credit management goes much further beyond saving money and paying bills on time. If you're living within your means, but still haven't achieved financial success there is content for you as well. I will also talk about building wealth and using your money to make money.

BOND Girl: Are there any other thought’s you’d like to share with our readers?

Dr. James: Come ready to learn, ask questions and have fun!

BOND Girl: Dr. James, thank you for your time and we look forward to seeing you on January 17^th. The RSVPs are steadily rolling in. I suspect that this will be a topic that many women can benefit from.

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To read Dr. Maria James’ full bio, CLICK HERE. For more information and to RSVP for the January 17th 2014 Gathering, “Discipline Not Deprivation” CLICK HERE. Please grab your seat now as the price will increase at the door.