Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Ashley M. Fox.
Ashley M. Fox is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Empify, a leading fintech company dedicated to democratizing financial education. Fox is a former Wall Street analyst, a Howard University graduate, and an expert in her field as a Financial Education Specialist. Building upon her career managing portfolios for high-net-worth individuals, Fox founded Empify to empower the 99% that Wall Street overlooks with the tools to build generational wealth including investing courses, estate planning, retirement planning, and more. Fox has earned numerous accolades including her recognition as one of Black Enterprise’s 2024 40 Under 40 awardees. She was also named as a Black Woman Trailblazer for her groundbreaking work in financial education at the 2024 Hallmark Mahogany Honors. A frequent keynote speaker at international events, her story and expertise have been featured on prominent media outlets, including Jim Cramer’s “The Street,” Yahoo Finance, CNBC, Inc. Magazine, Afrotech, Business Insider, Fox News, ABC, Huffington Post, Glamour Magazine, and Forbes.
Company Description *
Empify, named by merging the words EMPower and modIFY, revolutionizes how users learn to build wealth. The company’s membership-based WealthBuilders Community app, widely referenced as the “Netflix of Finance,” simplifies financial concepts through its life-alternating programs and digital content designed to remove fear around investing. Since inception, Empify has equipped millions of individuals with the tools to build wealth and has enabled tens of thousands of adults and children to become first-time investors. Its educational programs have been implemented in hundreds of schools, prison systems, and organizations across the United States and over 20 countries including the School District of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, US Bank, Essence, and Google. Underscoring its impact, Empify was ranked in the top 50 companies in the Financial Services category for Inc. Magazine’s 5000 Fast-Growing Companies list, securing an overall ranking of #652 in August 2024.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host the weekly Money
Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this
show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. If
you want to be a guest on my show, please
visit our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and clip the be
a Guest button. Press submit and information will come directly
(00:23):
to me. Now let's get this show started. My guest
is founder and chief executive officer of Implify, a leading
fintech company dedicated to financial education. She is the former
Wall Street analyst, Howell University graduate and an expert in
our field and financial education. It's a new year, a
(00:44):
new White House administration, so it's time to update your
financial literacy. Please welcome the Money Making Conversation Masterclass Ashley M. Fox.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Thank you for having me. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Welcome Ashley, thank you, thank you. What do you do?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I financially empower the world, showing them that they that
they can start with who they are and what they
have and effectively build wealth generation at the generation.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
How is it that defined in your brand? How did
you figure that out?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So? I always wanted to be in finance cause I
liked making money and I liked business. So I went
to Howard major in finance, and I wanted to be
in the financial.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Capital of the world, which was Wall Street.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Now, remember I just wanted to make money, so I
wanted to be around it, and had four internships laying
in my dream job working with ultra high network in
individuals on Wall Street, and I got to see the
ins and outs of what everybody did with their money.
So if you had at least twenty five million dollars,
I was in your bank account. And from where they shop, traveled, lived,
what they invested in, how they avoided taxes. Like I
(01:48):
learned so much. But when I went back home in
to Philly, where I'm from, people thought I was rich.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
And so I'm making a.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Good six figures in my twenties. But I'm like, this
isn't money what I'm seeing on Wall Street. I want
that life and I want the world to have that.
And so I learned that to truly build wealth in
this country, you have to either create your own idea
or invest in somebody else's idea. And I wanted to
be able to create my own, and so I left
Wall Street and created this word called amplify, which was
(02:13):
more really about a feeling because the biggest thing I
learned on Wall Street it's not that there's a lack
of financial education. There may be a lack of implementation,
but there's also a lack of self belief. When you
think and know and believe you have the power to
create wealth and you deserve wealth, you move a different way.
But if you don't come from money, you're not around it.
The lack of belief is there. And so I wanted
(02:33):
to be able to instill the Wall Street experience, the
Wall Street knowledge and bring it to the everyday person,
and so create this word called emplify, which is a
word in power and modify merge together. Where the goal
was to be able to give you those financial tools
and resources, give it you in the palm of your hand,
so that you're not running from money or afraid to
talk about it, you're running towards it. And so left
Wall Street creating them five lost Everything got to a
(02:54):
point where.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Now lost everything explain.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Got kicked out my apartment, maxed out credit cards, and
slept on my parents' couch for two years. After being
evicted from my apartment with the intent to build empathy.
And I think when you get to a certain point
in life where you see certain things. I could not
unsee the money that Wall Street exposed me to. So
you couldn't tell me that I couldn't have it, and
you couldn't tell me that the world could not obtain it,
and I was gonna be the woman.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
To be able to give it to the world.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Went on to create financial education programs in school systems
and prison systems because I felt like prison systems, yeah,
one of the things. So prior to after leaving Wall Street,
I was a financial advisor, so I was targeting load
of moderate income individuals but giving them the tools and
resources Wall Street gave to its rich clients. Got to
a point where I felt like I was dealing with
(03:43):
a lot of mentally and financially broken adults, and it's like,
how can we prevent that from happening? Because you shouldn't
learn about money once you get it. You should learn
about it before you even get to that space in life.
And so he wanted to go into the school system,
and so I went into the school system, was teaching schools,
had contracts with school districts, and then the prison system
reached out to me, and so that was never the
I was n I think the big overarching goal was
(04:03):
a target at ninety nine percent. I think I stopped
worrying about how I was gonna do it and just
knew the impact was going to be felt when when
the right opportunities came to the prison system. So at
the time they were there were a lot of children
or miners incarcerated at Rikers, and they created that law
that now says adults and children cannot be housed in
prison together. And so they took all those children who
(04:24):
were under eighteen from Rikers and we've taught them financial education.
So literally every single week I was in a prison
system teaching kids from Rikers how to build wealth, which.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Was Now, when you say underserved community, who are you
talking about to me?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
When I say that, I mean the individuals that could
not walk to the twenty seventh floor that big bank
that I worked at because they did not have twenty
five million dollars. The people who didn't have the financial
education and resources may not have come from money but
deserved to have it, just don't know how to make
financially educated decisions.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Now you say twenty dollars. Absolutely, twenty dollars.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
We could go to ten.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Talk to us because my audience is listening.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So when you think about investing, when it comes to
investing in your own idea of somebody else's idea, one,
don't let the internet fool you. You don't have to
have a business to build wealth. Right now, you can
invest in somebody else's business. And one of the easiest
ways to do that, where you don't need a lot
of money to start, you don't need to be an
expert in finance, is to buy a stock. And I
think back when I was on Wall Street back in
like twenty ten, the.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Game was different.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Now it is a lot easier, it's a lot more accessible,
and you have the Internet now, and so you can
open broken accounts. It's the account that you need to
buy a stock with less than twenty dollars. I always
tell people just start with twenty dollars because you can
buy pieces of company. So the way I think of
a stock is like a box of pizza. The company
is the whole pie, but each slice is a piece
of that company. When you go and buy a stock,
(05:45):
you're buying that slice. Every slice has a price Now,
let's just say the price is one hundred dollars, but
you don't have one hundred dollars. You might only have fifty.
You can get a half of that slice. You still
own a piece of that company. You still have that slice.
And if the value of that slice goes up, down,
or however moves, so does your net worth attached to it.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And so the.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Biggest thing I tell people is that you don't have
to have a lot of money to start.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
You just have to have the will to begin.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Because investing is not just something that you are, something
that you do. It's one thing you become. And you
gotta be consistent. Because if I told you now, I'd
give you twenty dollars every single month for.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
The rest of your life, would you take it?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Why would you take it?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Right? It's not a lot of money, but I feel
that it's money.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Right, So that's how we got to think about it.
So a whole lot of twenty dollars can get you
to a million as long as.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
You don't stop.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Right, let's talk about this. I'm speaking to Ashley M. Fox,
founder of Amplifier. Ashley, before we go any further, how
do we reach out to you, so you.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Can email me infow at implify dot com.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Our website is wwwmpify dot com empify dot com and
I'm all across all social media platforms on Instagram, Underscore,
Ashley and Fox, TikTok, I am the Ashley m Fox
LinkedIn YouTube, Ashley and Fox as well.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Okay, I've been intervying you a lot, and if I
always walked away educated because you had it you being
in HBCU graduate Howard Yes, the Big Age, Yes went
to Wall Street. Talk about that moment when you went,
this is not me.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Okay, I remember it.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
There was a day, well eight months into my job,
I was a bit uneasy. I didn't have the desire
to be great. I didn't have the desire to stay late,
and I'm wired to strive for excellence. I did everything
I could. Four internships at I were graduated when honors.
I had to be the best of anything.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That I did.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
But I didn't want to be the best on Wall Street,
and so I thought something was wrong with me. But
I got more joy out of studying our clients and
learning how they built their wealth versus watching them sustain
it and helping them stay rich. And I actually always
want to be a teacher, though, but I did not
associate education with money, and so I chose the money
route personally. But I remember this one time, a really
(07:55):
good friend of mine told me to go to so
I worked at the head quarters of a company on
Overlooking Park Avenue, and so I sat on the twenty
seventh floor. He's like, look outside and look at all
the people. How do you feel? And I was like,
I feel trapped, right, And he was just like, okay,
I want you to close your eyes and envision its
building is empty and it's all yours. How do you feel?
And I was like, I feel on top of the world.
And in that moment, I couldn't tell you why I
(08:18):
felt trapped. And in that moment, when that building was mine,
I felt like I could do anything. And that just
did something to me. So I think that exact same
exercise with one of my colleagues. I'm like, look out
the window. How do you feel. He's like I feel fine?
And I'm like, no, no, no, how do you feel?
He's like I feel regular? And that's when I knew
I was different. That's when I knew I wasn't the
woman helping wealthy people stay wealthy. I was that wealthy
(08:39):
client that belonged in that building. But I also knew
that I could create that life for myself by showing
others how they could do the same.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
But you've done that, Now how are you reaching people?
I know you have the social website, but how do
you reach your clients?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
The biggest way right now, considering this day and age,
is digital marketing when it comes to maximize on all
social media platforms. I think the big this thing for
me is just being normal, meeting people where they are.
I don't have to have a suit, I don't have
to be on Wall Street. It's meeting people where they
are with what they have. So where are our customers.
Our customers aren't walking into a Wall Street bank, They're
on social media, they're watching television.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
How can I meet them where they are?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
And we have our Welfareess community membership platform who are
now adults on their phone can learn financial education and
be anywhere in the world, will be amongst thousands of
people doing the exact same thing. And so I would
say the biggest, biggest and most impact for us is
maximizing social media because one of the biggest things I
always tell people, you never know who's watching. I've gone
on national television because a company slid in my dms
(09:36):
on LinkedIn, or on TikTok or on Instagram. And so
if for me, it's like, how do I tell our story?
How do I live my normal life? How do I
show you my ups my downs? Bring you along this journey,
but give you the most education that you can receive
that the school system forgot.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
They give you.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Your brand is Ashley M. Fox. Yes, three numbers, seven
point four million, Yes, three thousand, Yes, accounts twenty five
for countries. Wow, those are milestones.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yes, absolutely you And how were you university to graduate? Yes?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Your job was to work on Wall Street. Tell us
about that journey to what I just said?
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Woof okay, okay.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
So we got to the point where I got kicked out,
We got to the point where where we were teaching schools.
We got to the point where in prison systems. It
got to a point where so many people were reaching
out to us that I couldn't scale. I turned into
an individual who built a company that was hiring and
firing people, not massively distributing financial education. And in that moment,
(10:39):
I realized I needed technology now. At that point. I
had no idea what that was. I just knew how
could I take financial education? And I want to give
people in person and give that same dynamic experience through
technology to scale it. And so in twenty twenty, when
COVID hit, schools didn't know how to operate, and so
the beauty of that was, at that point, we were
only teaching children, okay, and adults were like, hey what
(11:02):
about us? And I didn't want to be a financial
advisor because I can only talk to so many people
as your advisor, So how can I massively reach children?
How can I massively reach adults With the financial education
and resources they're asking for.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
I just gotta figure out how to give it to them.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
And so when COVID hit, the beauty of it was
we could not go into schools anymore cause they didn't
even know how to operate. And so that's when we
launched our membership based platform, the Well for this community,
which we like to call like the Netflix of finance,
where you have access to over three hundred hours of
of classes, tools, resources. We have events in person digital
events where you're learning how to build wealth, whether it's
from buying your first stock to building your estate planning,
(11:36):
to properly pass down your wealth plan for retirement, invest
for your children. And so literally, with those numbers you
were stating, our members have opened over three thousand accounts.
So we're talking about first time investors who might not
who might not have even had twenty dollars, but figured
out how to start with at least five dollars to
get their account open and to buy their first stock.
And collectively our members have invested over seven point four
(11:58):
million dollars. And this is like, if you to this
out of today, you want to invest for with one
hundred dollars, we track that number you submitted it. We
have this race. We're on a race to now ten million.
My goal for twenty twenty five is a race to
twenty million.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So okay, okay, let's get in this race. Now, get
me in this race. Talk to me.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
You now you well one, this is exclusive to the
wealth biteressed community. So you gotta get in. And when
you're in, you got to commit to investing. There is
no pressure on how much, There is no pressure on
what you buy. It is I need to know you
process that transaction and you investing in somebody else's company
with the intent to build your wealth for you and
your family. And we have an infrastructure in place that
(12:37):
calculates and all of the investments that our members doing.
Right now, we're at seven point four million, but I
believe we can get to twenty million this year. And
so the more people we impact, the more education we
give them, the more comfortable they are with investing for themselves.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
We're able to get that done.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
My daughter when she hears you, she's a fan. And
because you simplify things, because you impa five thids.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yes, okay, there you go.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Educating families. How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
There's always one wealth builder in the family there. You
gotta find that one. And it's not not everybody is
always ready. Everybody wants money, but not everybody's ready to
become the person they need to become to prioritize themselves
and wealth for their family. Because it's so much bigger
than how much money you make. It's so much bigger
than your past, so much bigger than your credit score,
(13:29):
so much bigger than a president in the United States.
It has to be something inside of you. So you
gotta find that one person in the family that says,
nobody but me is gonna lead the charge for my family,
and I'm gonna do it whether they're on board or not.
And so for me, that was me and my family
when my my family didn't buy stocks, so I opened
all their brother's accounts, I funded all their accounts, I
got all the life insurance policies. But now we're in
(13:49):
a space where they're doing it themselves. Now they're in
a space where they're trusting themselves to be able to
do it, and that's important. So it's one you have
to set the tone for yourself and shine that light
on you first, because at some point that light will
shine on your family.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
They'll either follow sup, but they're always watching.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And as long as you commit to something more than
just your personal gain, because it has to be bigger
than you, Especially for parents, it's like you might not
have had it when they were growing up, or you
might not have had it growing up. But what about today,
What if we can twenty dollars our way so that
our kids don't have to take our student loans the
way we did. What if we can twenty dollars our
way to ensure that our kids are set for retirement
because we may not have been set for retirement and
so it has to be something.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So much bigger than you.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
And then once your family sees what you're committed to
and they see your growth, they will begin to follow suit.
Now it might take long, you might not get every
family member, but you cannot say that you did not
do the best that you can for the people that
you love without having to rely on anybody else, or
any infrastructure or any system.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Just a person in the mirror.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Are you, Ashley, in fact, part of a movement?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
That is a great question.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
HM.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
My first thought was, amplify is the movement? It just
has My.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
DNA and financial livers say, seems trendy. I see a
lot of people out there. I won't say no names,
I won't say they're frauds, but I don't like what
they're doing because I know it's not right in the
way they apply it, like it's a YouTube setup. How
do you separate yourself from I want to say competition.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
One of the biggest thing I do I don't do
is bash other people. That's the first that's my first standard.
Because I remember when I was on Wall Street, when
I bought my first stock in twenty eleven, twenty twelve,
there was no financial educational Internet. I have my Wall
Street and the everyday person did not have it. It
was not in your school system. You weren't talking about
the dinner table. So one of the beautiful things about
(15:42):
the Internet is that at least there is a conversation
about something our community has never talked about. That's the
first thing. So I applaud anybody who makes an attempt
right now. One of the biggest things that I think
I do, and an advantage I might have, is I come.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
From a Wall Street background.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yes, so I knew finance and was doing finance before
the Internet became a thing. The Internet just became an
outlet for me to release what was already inside of
my heart. And so my story never changed from the
day I started posting on Instagram to the day I
left Wall Street.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
My mission has never changed.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I've gone through things in life, I've evolved as a woman,
but the core focus was always dedicated to the people
that I did not see come into that building when
I worked on Wall Street. And so I think one
of the biggest differentiators is one I never did this
for money, mm, because if I wanted money, I would
have stayed on Wall Street. Like if I'm if like
I went through a lot to even try to figure
out how to teach a child how to buy a
stock when people were not paying emplify anything. And so
(16:37):
I think one the authenticity around the purpose where it's
not driven by money but driven by the how.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
To show the world how to build that wealth.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
MM people can feel that, and I run my entire
company like that. And so when we think of Empify,
and if you look at our logo, it's it's it's
a transformation into the colored green. Green doesn't represent money,
it represents the heart chakra. So everything we lead with
is from all Because if you love the person in
the mirror, you can build any type of wealth that
you need. But if you don't believe in a person
(17:04):
in the mirror, it's now empathized job to believe in you.
And because I've seen what was possible and you might
not have, you got to borrow my belief. But if
I don't love you for who you are to take
you where you need to go, it doesn't work. And
I think that is what people can feel.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money making conversations masterclass. Welcome back to the money Making
Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(17:41):
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Ashley, I go to your social media, you are fire taking,
I see finance, I see fashion. Is that intentional?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
When I went to Howard, one of the best there's
things I loved about Howard is that you had to
wear a black and blue suit to business orientation twice
a week. Yes, I learned how to eat, I learned
how to dress. I had the ugly stockings, I had
to shoes. I had all of that to prepare me
to be on Wall Street. And I don't I couldn't
say that it was fully who I was, And I
can't say that that always resonates with the people that
(18:19):
I serve. And so the day that I left Wall Street,
I told myself, I will never go wear stockings. I
would not force myself to wear a black or blue suit.
I was going to create and feel that Ashley I
wanted to be and show the world wealth doesn't have
a color. Therefore it looks like Ashton Marie Fox, and
so I am intentional about what I wear, how I look,
(18:41):
because if I wore a suit, if I look like
I'm on Wall Street, you would judge me, Yes, you
would you You would have a preconcy perception.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
You might be a little intimidated.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
But no matter what I look like, the moment I
open my mouth, it sounds like I worked on Wall Street.
It sounds like that I have education, And so for me,
I want to be Ashley and I wanna connect with
the people that from a normal place. I don't want
to be black and blue suit trench coach like Wall
Street has a look and it it works well. But
for the audience, I want to serve who who hasn't
(19:11):
had the opportunity to be in that building. What if
I built my own building and we looked we all
looked a different way, and it didn't have a uniform
and had a level of excellence based off of who
you were and what you wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
And this is just who actually is.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
That's all Ashley Financial literacy, social media engagement. Are you
shocked how people react to you?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
In the beginning, I was if I'm if I'm being
really honest? The reason I went the reason I went
to therapy is I was asked to be on Fox News.
This was like twenty seventeen and no, no, even before that,
I was featured on Jim Kramer's The Street in twenty fourteen.
That was the first time I had makeup. I was
in a green room and I was I didn't really
sign out to be famous. And I was also on
the version and kicked out my apartment. So I felt like,
(19:51):
who am Midasa? The world about money and I don't
even have it. But when I started going on TV
and people started to reach out, I liked what I saw. Uh,
you know how you look at yourself on camera, you
tryn to find what's wrong with you, Like there was
nothing wrong. I did great, but I couldn't handle it.
And so I remember a mentor of mine telling me,
it's selfish of you to how who you are from
the world, knowing what you know. And in that moment,
(20:13):
it was kind of like, however, Astuley and her energy
and whoever she is, and it's becoming that needs to
be seen because when I think about just a a
black person in finance, with the education, with the intellect,
with the credentials, we don't always have that and it's
like they might exist, but they might not be allowed
to be public the way I am because we were
(20:34):
for a bank.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
You can't really do a lot of those things.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
And so it was really important for me to accept
who I was and know that my purpose in life
was not for what I wanted, but what I felt like.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
The world deserved to have.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
And then as time progressed, it was kind of like, Okay,
maybe you're kind of good at this, right because I
never really did it for the money, and I I
also didn't know what came with the world knowing who
I was. M. I thought it just came with the
world having what was inside my brain.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
MM.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
And I think it's a culmination of both.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
And I think we do the Black community specifically, a
disservice by hiding who we are because there's not enough
of the excellence dominating our time lines or dominating the world.
And sometimes I feel like I have to compete with America.
I have to compete because the news is not going
to promote all positive things. That's not how they make
their money, and I respect it. So if I gotta
(21:23):
compete with your timeline our natural desire for negativity, because
that's what we're drawn to, that's what we sell. M
How can I just give you something that gives you
the joy that I need you to feel, and the
education and I need you to receive and constantly embedded
in your mind so that I'm conditioning you the same
way the Internet conditions your mind. And when I started
to understand the importance of that and the reframing and
(21:44):
the unlearning we have to have when it comes to
ref redefining what wealth is, I made that my duty.
And so I think in the beginning, no, that wasn't
the goal, and I didn't really care. But as I
started to evolve, it kind of was just like, who
but Ashley Fox is going to do this? And I
just that just became my purpose, my life's purpose.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Okay, mm compound interests account? Is that a safe way
to start a stock?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I don't think it's a this or that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
I think it's this and that, right, So I don't
I think the world tells you you get a job,
you go to school, you get the job to pay No,
you go to school, get the job, you go you
get the job to pay for school back, buy a
house and you're good, right, And I think we all
know people who make good money. Well that's not the
American way, be cause that's not a bankan SYSM makes money.
But yes, but if we talking about the actual banking system,
(22:33):
you buy that house, you take out that credit card,
like the bangan sism thrives off a debt. So if
we go the American way, which is fine, I just
think that's that's not we can't stop there, right. I'm
not telling you to quit your job, but I am
telling you to create wealth. I'm not telling you not
buy your house, but I do want you to know
that America makes a whole lot of money every time
you pay that mortgage, and they make a lot more
money off of you in that house. You're paying that mortgage,
(22:54):
but you got Undertand how the game is played.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
What happens after that?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
What if we save and you ud utilize savings accounts
because I have a savings account for my short term needs,
but not for my long term GA gain like my
long term game plan. So yes, you can save and invest.
Yes you can invest and pay down debt. So you're
not a bad person with debt. You're not a bad person.
If you only save, you're not a bad person. If
you don't save, but you cannot expect to have the
(23:18):
financial ease, the financial clarity, and the freedom you want
mentally and financially if all you're gonna do is you
to saving the account because you cannot save your weight
to wealth and you can't work your way there. And
please show me somebody who has done that, cause I
would love to talk to them. But when I was
on Wall Street, if our clients only had money in
a savings account, it was our job to tell them
how to put it to work because it's something called inflation.
(23:39):
You can't sit and talk to somebody with a hundred
million dollars and inflation is three percent, and they they're
gonna lose money just by sitting there. So instead of
me having a hundred million and losing thirty million on
my money, I'm thinking, I'm thinking not thirty million, but
you get y yeah, yeah, you get the math. Me
thinking what if I had a hundred dollars and I'm
(24:00):
losing my three percent? While it might not seem like
a lot, I gotta wire my mind, like I'm like,
I'm that one hundred million dollar person. And so I
used to like train my mind to like they started
with one hundred million. I bought my first stop with
one hundred dollars and I'm just gonna do it a
in a small way and grow over time. But I
will watch how if they had savings accounts and there
was money sitting in there, we had to go work
(24:21):
with investors to put together a structured plan for them
to ensure that they're not losing money with it's just
sitting there. And people think wealthy people like when you
see like big companies or people have billions of dollars
or they're worth billions. They're worth billions, they have billions
in cash. Wealthy people don't just have cash laying around.
It's always going to work. And so it's training people
(24:43):
to know. You gotta give your money a job description,
what is it going to do, what is it doing,
how is it performing? To make sure it gives you
what you need and the results you desire. And unfortunately
you can't do that in a savings acount. And not
to mention when people you saves, again, I don't they
know the money gets loaned.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Out the people.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
So your credit card, your student loans, your business sans,
all of that comes from somebody savings account and they're
just lonely getting charging you a interest but charging someone
a higher interest rate on that debt. And that's how
the banking system makes money. So yes, but that's not
your only option. Okay, and and and and life has
shown us that that can't be your only option.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
There has to be something more out there for us.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
To do, right, Okay, let's this Black Enterprise honored you.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Black Enterprise, so you know what's so interesting. Black Enterprise
was one of the first companies to see me MM.
And this is back when like MM scared Ashley was
just starting therapy, and they had asked me to start
writing for them. And I'm like writing I don't even
know I knew how to write, but I'm like, I
got something to say. And I've done a lot with them,
and I've been featured a lot of places. But I
think Black Enterprise meant a lot because I did not know.
(25:49):
I remember seeing an email I was getting my hair done.
I was like so excited. But I remember what Black
Enterprise represented to me growing up and what it represented
to me when I was trying to figure out emplify
we weren't that when Black Enterprise saw me and I
spoke at their conferences and did interviews and things like that.
This was not the Ashley that they saw. This was
(26:10):
not the emplify like we were still figured. I don't
know if we had a website at certain points in time,
but it was cool that they saw something and they
felt something when it was just the idea in my mind.
And so to be able to be on and on
their forty under forty list it meant the world to me.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I've been featured a lot of places, but it was.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Like that was at one place, like you guys saw
Ashley when she was in her twenties, before Ashley even
knew that this was a possible thing, when she still
doubted herself. So it actually really really meant a lot
to me, Ashley.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I keep going back to social because you are defining
wealth from a standpoint of it can be fun, you
could be attractive, you can make money, you could be
fashion savvy. Because the way people react to you, I'm overwhelmed.
I mean brands I go, you know, especially on Instagram,
(27:03):
I go that many, like many, that many views, that
many views. Really, I know it's not normal because you're
not normal. What's the big picture?
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I think now, it's really not a question of like
if it's a matter of when, like at what?
Speaker 4 (27:23):
What?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
How big can I go?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
How big can I create Ashley's brand, empathize reach because
there's people all I'll be in the airport, I've I've
had conversation. I remember in Greece, I'm teaching people on
a boat about investing, and it's like, how do Because,
like I said, wealth doesn't have a color. It does
like it has no true identity to it. So it's like,
how big can I take something so general but so
(27:49):
important to so many people and embedded in their mind
to show them that you can heal, smile, go to therapy,
figure life out, and still build wealth.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
And still do what it is you want to do.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
And I think for me, it's all about every post
I make has an intention, Every post I make has
a training and an unlearning that I want to give
the world a sense of inspiration, a sense of guidance,
a sense of struggles, Like I want to be as
honest and transparent so that people can see me at
my core but also see me in the intellect that
I present. And at this point, it's just a matter
how big can you get and how consistent can you be?
(28:23):
And how big of a team can you build so
that this is an operating machine that changes the world
every single day with every single post.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Okay, I'll be remiss if I didn't ask you for tips,
at least three tips, then my audience could take away
from the Implify brand.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
The first thing I would say, and this goes for everybody.
We don't got to go deep into this, but I
feel inclined to say this. The last time I checked personally,
there was no president that put me through college was
there with me getting kicked out my apartment building. Emplify
was there to help me buy my first stock. And
(29:00):
the person in the mirror is the person we always
got to depend on. And people can have their political views,
which I respect. I just think at the end of
the day is you and you, and there's no president
that can build the wealth that you can create for
your family. And I think when we allow our emotion
to subside and we start thinking like a business owner
(29:23):
with intellect and putting our family and our goals first.
Because you can't be angry and bill wealth at the
same time. You can't be emotional with the market and
build wealth at the same time. And so the biggest
thing I would say is let go to the emotions
and start using logic and play the game like I
wanna build a billion dollar business.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I'm not there.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yet, but it's a lot of billion dollar businesses out
there that I can own a piece of. I don't
have to like you. I don't have to work at
the company. But if I use your product, and I'm
the reason you're a billion dollar business, I'm helping you
build wealth, so I deserve a piece of the pie.
So take the logic, own where your dollar goes, and
(30:07):
consider owning a piece of the company. Cause they are
about five big old companies that are worth trillion dollars,
and I can pretty much guarantee at least three out
of those five we use on a weekly basis. So
my mere existence is, for example, why an Amazon exists.
I buy Ketchup, I buy Shower, I buy everything, but
I own stock in that company.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I don't know bet Jeff Bezos.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I don't have to like Jeff Bezos, but I love
the company he created and it's getting even better. And
but I own a piece of that, and so does
my seven year old niece, and she will be wealthy
for the rest of her life. So that might have
been like five tips in one. But the moral of
the story is no emotion, straight logic, and consider the
companies you give your money to and own them because
(30:49):
they are a lot cheaper than you think. While it's
worth a trillion, the stock is like two hundred dollars,
the stocks are less than three four hundred dollars, right,
So really consider those things.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
The other thing I would say.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Is pay yourself, and we pay everybody. We make money,
and we we want, we gotta pay our bills.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I gotta pay down debt.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
It's like I was talking to somebody the other day, like, yeah,
I gotta pay down debt, and it's like, yes, do
that and invest because when you pay down debt, you're
also making the banking system richer. Mm so what about you,
Maybe we can consider owning a bank stock that we
gotta pay the credit card back to. I don't know,
but but pay you and sometimes that is twenty dollars.
And then you go pay your rent because you pay
your rent, you pay yourself one, but you pay your kids,
(31:32):
you pay the restaurant, uh, the bar tend at the restaurant,
You pay your cardinal, you pay your ga, you pay everybody,
and you look up and you're the one that doesn't
have money, and it's like, well, who who's gonna worry
about you? M not the American system, not the the
not the mortgage company, not the gas nobody's nobody's worrying
about you. We want them to, but they're not. They
gotta run their business. You gotta look at you like
(31:52):
that you incorporated. You have to take care of you.
You have to pay you, and sometimes that means you
gotta start with twenty dollars. Because people are not gonna
be driven by the result. You're gonna be driven by
your progress. I need you to be addicted to investing.
I need you to question every company you come across
and wonder, if it's publicly traded, how much is it.
Let me go research that company because I might want
(32:13):
to put that in my portfolio. I always tell people,
when you think about the stocks that you choose, they're
sitting at your table. Their job is to perform for you,
and if they're not, you bencham when you get rid
of them. These companies deserve to be in your portfolio,
but you have to make sure they deserve to be
sitting next to you, and that is to me.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
It's an honor to be in.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Ashley's portfolio, because if I don't like you, I'm not
investing in you. But I have plans, and I know
I don't want to do it alone, so let me
help somebody. Let me allow some of these billionaires to
help me get money too. You gotta think like that.
We can't hate the people with wealth yet yet to
have a desire to obtain it. We got to figure
out how to take what we know lead, take the good,
leave the bad, to be able to change our family's
(32:51):
lives because nobody's gonna do it but you.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Okay, thank you, Ashley. You're wonderful as you usual. Tell
us how to rehuat.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
You, Ampifi dot com, empify dot com. You can shoot
me an email info at mfi dot com. I'm across
all social media platforms, Underscore, Ashley, m Fox, TikTok, I
am the Ashley m Fox, Ashley and Fox on YouTube,
LinkedIn everywhere, and emplithizers all over Instagram social media as well.
But yes, I do respond to dms, I do respond
to emails. I might not always hit you right when
(33:18):
you send it, but I do my best to get
back to you. But if you have a question, definitely come.
We got a lot of free classes, free resources to
be able to help you start so that you can
continue to build every single day, break by brick, share
by share.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation Masterclass. This
has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass hosted
by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests on
the show today and thank you o' listening to your
audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
I want to be a guest on the show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
(33:52):
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
your gifts. Keep winning to
Hi. I am Rashan McDonald, a host the weekly Money
Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this
show provides are for everyone. It's time to stop reading
other people's success stories and start living your own. If
you want to be a guest on my show, please
visit our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and clip the be
a Guest button. Press submit and information will come directly
(00:23):
to me. Now let's get this show started. My guest
is founder and chief executive officer of Implify, a leading
fintech company dedicated to financial education. She is the former
Wall Street analyst, Howell University graduate and an expert in
our field and financial education. It's a new year, a
(00:44):
new White House administration, so it's time to update your
financial literacy. Please welcome the Money Making Conversation Masterclass Ashley M. Fox.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Thank you for having me. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Welcome Ashley, thank you, thank you. What do you do?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I financially empower the world, showing them that they that
they can start with who they are and what they
have and effectively build wealth generation at the generation.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
How is it that defined in your brand? How did
you figure that out?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So? I always wanted to be in finance cause I
liked making money and I liked business. So I went
to Howard major in finance, and I wanted to be
in the financial.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Capital of the world, which was Wall Street.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Now, remember I just wanted to make money, so I
wanted to be around it, and had four internships laying
in my dream job working with ultra high network in
individuals on Wall Street, and I got to see the
ins and outs of what everybody did with their money.
So if you had at least twenty five million dollars,
I was in your bank account. And from where they shop, traveled, lived,
what they invested in, how they avoided taxes. Like I
(01:48):
learned so much. But when I went back home in
to Philly, where I'm from, people thought I was rich.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
And so I'm making a.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Good six figures in my twenties. But I'm like, this
isn't money what I'm seeing on Wall Street. I want
that life and I want the world to have that.
And so I learned that to truly build wealth in
this country, you have to either create your own idea
or invest in somebody else's idea. And I wanted to
be able to create my own, and so I left
Wall Street and created this word called amplify, which was
(02:13):
more really about a feeling because the biggest thing I
learned on Wall Street it's not that there's a lack
of financial education. There may be a lack of implementation,
but there's also a lack of self belief. When you
think and know and believe you have the power to
create wealth and you deserve wealth, you move a different way.
But if you don't come from money, you're not around it.
The lack of belief is there. And so I wanted
(02:33):
to be able to instill the Wall Street experience, the
Wall Street knowledge and bring it to the everyday person,
and so create this word called emplify, which is a
word in power and modify merge together. Where the goal
was to be able to give you those financial tools
and resources, give it you in the palm of your hand,
so that you're not running from money or afraid to
talk about it, you're running towards it. And so left
Wall Street creating them five lost Everything got to a
(02:54):
point where.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Now lost everything explain.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Got kicked out my apartment, maxed out credit cards, and
slept on my parents' couch for two years. After being
evicted from my apartment with the intent to build empathy.
And I think when you get to a certain point
in life where you see certain things. I could not
unsee the money that Wall Street exposed me to. So
you couldn't tell me that I couldn't have it, and
you couldn't tell me that the world could not obtain it,
and I was gonna be the woman.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
To be able to give it to the world.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Went on to create financial education programs in school systems
and prison systems because I felt like prison systems, yeah,
one of the things. So prior to after leaving Wall Street,
I was a financial advisor, so I was targeting load
of moderate income individuals but giving them the tools and
resources Wall Street gave to its rich clients. Got to
a point where I felt like I was dealing with
(03:43):
a lot of mentally and financially broken adults, and it's like,
how can we prevent that from happening? Because you shouldn't
learn about money once you get it. You should learn
about it before you even get to that space in life.
And so he wanted to go into the school system,
and so I went into the school system, was teaching schools,
had contracts with school districts, and then the prison system
reached out to me, and so that was never the
I was n I think the big overarching goal was
(04:03):
a target at ninety nine percent. I think I stopped
worrying about how I was gonna do it and just
knew the impact was going to be felt when when
the right opportunities came to the prison system. So at
the time they were there were a lot of children
or miners incarcerated at Rikers, and they created that law
that now says adults and children cannot be housed in
prison together. And so they took all those children who
(04:24):
were under eighteen from Rikers and we've taught them financial education.
So literally every single week I was in a prison
system teaching kids from Rikers how to build wealth, which.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Was Now, when you say underserved community, who are you
talking about to me?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
When I say that, I mean the individuals that could
not walk to the twenty seventh floor that big bank
that I worked at because they did not have twenty
five million dollars. The people who didn't have the financial
education and resources may not have come from money but
deserved to have it, just don't know how to make
financially educated decisions.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Now you say twenty dollars. Absolutely, twenty dollars.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
We could go to ten.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Talk to us because my audience is listening.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So when you think about investing, when it comes to
investing in your own idea of somebody else's idea, one,
don't let the internet fool you. You don't have to
have a business to build wealth. Right now, you can
invest in somebody else's business. And one of the easiest
ways to do that, where you don't need a lot
of money to start, you don't need to be an
expert in finance, is to buy a stock. And I
think back when I was on Wall Street back in
like twenty ten, the.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Game was different.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Now it is a lot easier, it's a lot more accessible,
and you have the Internet now, and so you can
open broken accounts. It's the account that you need to
buy a stock with less than twenty dollars. I always
tell people just start with twenty dollars because you can
buy pieces of company. So the way I think of
a stock is like a box of pizza. The company
is the whole pie, but each slice is a piece
of that company. When you go and buy a stock,
(05:45):
you're buying that slice. Every slice has a price Now,
let's just say the price is one hundred dollars, but
you don't have one hundred dollars. You might only have fifty.
You can get a half of that slice. You still
own a piece of that company. You still have that slice.
And if the value of that slice goes up, down,
or however moves, so does your net worth attached to it.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
And so the.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Biggest thing I tell people is that you don't have
to have a lot of money to start.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
You just have to have the will to begin.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Because investing is not just something that you are, something
that you do. It's one thing you become. And you
gotta be consistent. Because if I told you now, I'd
give you twenty dollars every single month for.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
The rest of your life, would you take it?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Why would you take it?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Right? It's not a lot of money, but I feel
that it's money.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Right, So that's how we got to think about it.
So a whole lot of twenty dollars can get you
to a million as long as.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
You don't stop.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Right, let's talk about this. I'm speaking to Ashley M. Fox,
founder of Amplifier. Ashley, before we go any further, how
do we reach out to you, so you.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Can email me infow at implify dot com.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Our website is wwwmpify dot com empify dot com and
I'm all across all social media platforms on Instagram, Underscore,
Ashley and Fox, TikTok, I am the Ashley m Fox
LinkedIn YouTube, Ashley and Fox as well.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Okay, I've been intervying you a lot, and if I
always walked away educated because you had it you being
in HBCU graduate Howard Yes, the Big Age, Yes went
to Wall Street. Talk about that moment when you went,
this is not me.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Okay, I remember it.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
There was a day, well eight months into my job,
I was a bit uneasy. I didn't have the desire
to be great. I didn't have the desire to stay late,
and I'm wired to strive for excellence. I did everything
I could. Four internships at I were graduated when honors.
I had to be the best of anything.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That I did.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
But I didn't want to be the best on Wall Street,
and so I thought something was wrong with me. But
I got more joy out of studying our clients and
learning how they built their wealth versus watching them sustain
it and helping them stay rich. And I actually always
want to be a teacher, though, but I did not
associate education with money, and so I chose the money
route personally. But I remember this one time, a really
(07:55):
good friend of mine told me to go to so
I worked at the head quarters of a company on
Overlooking Park Avenue, and so I sat on the twenty
seventh floor. He's like, look outside and look at all
the people. How do you feel? And I was like,
I feel trapped, right, And he was just like, okay,
I want you to close your eyes and envision its
building is empty and it's all yours. How do you feel?
And I was like, I feel on top of the world.
And in that moment, I couldn't tell you why I
(08:18):
felt trapped. And in that moment, when that building was mine,
I felt like I could do anything. And that just
did something to me. So I think that exact same
exercise with one of my colleagues. I'm like, look out
the window. How do you feel. He's like I feel fine?
And I'm like, no, no, no, how do you feel?
He's like I feel regular? And that's when I knew
I was different. That's when I knew I wasn't the
woman helping wealthy people stay wealthy. I was that wealthy
(08:39):
client that belonged in that building. But I also knew
that I could create that life for myself by showing
others how they could do the same.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
But you've done that, Now how are you reaching people?
I know you have the social website, but how do
you reach your clients?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
The biggest way right now, considering this day and age,
is digital marketing when it comes to maximize on all
social media platforms. I think the big this thing for
me is just being normal, meeting people where they are.
I don't have to have a suit, I don't have
to be on Wall Street. It's meeting people where they
are with what they have. So where are our customers.
Our customers aren't walking into a Wall Street bank, They're
on social media, they're watching television.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
How can I meet them where they are?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
And we have our Welfareess community membership platform who are
now adults on their phone can learn financial education and
be anywhere in the world, will be amongst thousands of
people doing the exact same thing. And so I would
say the biggest, biggest and most impact for us is
maximizing social media because one of the biggest things I
always tell people, you never know who's watching. I've gone
on national television because a company slid in my dms
(09:36):
on LinkedIn, or on TikTok or on Instagram. And so
if for me, it's like, how do I tell our story?
How do I live my normal life? How do I
show you my ups my downs? Bring you along this journey,
but give you the most education that you can receive
that the school system forgot.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
They give you.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Your brand is Ashley M. Fox. Yes, three numbers, seven
point four million, Yes, three thousand, Yes, accounts twenty five
for countries. Wow, those are milestones.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Yes, absolutely you And how were you university to graduate? Yes?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Your job was to work on Wall Street. Tell us
about that journey to what I just said?
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Woof okay, okay.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
So we got to the point where I got kicked out,
We got to the point where where we were teaching schools.
We got to the point where in prison systems. It
got to a point where so many people were reaching
out to us that I couldn't scale. I turned into
an individual who built a company that was hiring and
firing people, not massively distributing financial education. And in that moment,
(10:39):
I realized I needed technology now. At that point. I
had no idea what that was. I just knew how
could I take financial education? And I want to give
people in person and give that same dynamic experience through
technology to scale it. And so in twenty twenty, when
COVID hit, schools didn't know how to operate, and so
the beauty of that was, at that point, we were
only teaching children, okay, and adults were like, hey what
(11:02):
about us? And I didn't want to be a financial
advisor because I can only talk to so many people
as your advisor, So how can I massively reach children?
How can I massively reach adults With the financial education
and resources they're asking for.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
I just gotta figure out how to give it to them.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
And so when COVID hit, the beauty of it was
we could not go into schools anymore cause they didn't
even know how to operate. And so that's when we
launched our membership based platform, the Well for this community,
which we like to call like the Netflix of finance,
where you have access to over three hundred hours of
of classes, tools, resources. We have events in person digital
events where you're learning how to build wealth, whether it's
from buying your first stock to building your estate planning,
(11:36):
to properly pass down your wealth plan for retirement, invest
for your children. And so literally, with those numbers you
were stating, our members have opened over three thousand accounts.
So we're talking about first time investors who might not
who might not have even had twenty dollars, but figured
out how to start with at least five dollars to
get their account open and to buy their first stock.
And collectively our members have invested over seven point four
(11:58):
million dollars. And this is like, if you to this
out of today, you want to invest for with one
hundred dollars, we track that number you submitted it. We
have this race. We're on a race to now ten million.
My goal for twenty twenty five is a race to
twenty million.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So okay, okay, let's get in this race. Now, get
me in this race. Talk to me.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
You now you well one, this is exclusive to the
wealth biteressed community. So you gotta get in. And when
you're in, you got to commit to investing. There is
no pressure on how much, There is no pressure on
what you buy. It is I need to know you
process that transaction and you investing in somebody else's company
with the intent to build your wealth for you and
your family. And we have an infrastructure in place that
(12:37):
calculates and all of the investments that our members doing.
Right now, we're at seven point four million, but I
believe we can get to twenty million this year. And
so the more people we impact, the more education we
give them, the more comfortable they are with investing for themselves.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
We're able to get that done.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
My daughter when she hears you, she's a fan. And
because you simplify things, because you impa five thids.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yes, okay, there you go.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Educating families. How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (13:08):
There's always one wealth builder in the family there. You
gotta find that one. And it's not not everybody is
always ready. Everybody wants money, but not everybody's ready to
become the person they need to become to prioritize themselves
and wealth for their family. Because it's so much bigger
than how much money you make. It's so much bigger
than your past, so much bigger than your credit score,
(13:29):
so much bigger than a president in the United States.
It has to be something inside of you. So you
gotta find that one person in the family that says,
nobody but me is gonna lead the charge for my family,
and I'm gonna do it whether they're on board or not.
And so for me, that was me and my family
when my my family didn't buy stocks, so I opened
all their brother's accounts, I funded all their accounts, I
got all the life insurance policies. But now we're in
(13:49):
a space where they're doing it themselves. Now they're in
a space where they're trusting themselves to be able to
do it, and that's important. So it's one you have
to set the tone for yourself and shine that light
on you first, because at some point that light will
shine on your family.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
They'll either follow sup, but they're always watching.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
And as long as you commit to something more than
just your personal gain, because it has to be bigger
than you, Especially for parents, it's like you might not
have had it when they were growing up, or you
might not have had it growing up. But what about today,
What if we can twenty dollars our way so that
our kids don't have to take our student loans the
way we did. What if we can twenty dollars our
way to ensure that our kids are set for retirement
because we may not have been set for retirement and
so it has to be something.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So much bigger than you.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
And then once your family sees what you're committed to
and they see your growth, they will begin to follow suit.
Now it might take long, you might not get every
family member, but you cannot say that you did not
do the best that you can for the people that
you love without having to rely on anybody else, or
any infrastructure or any system.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Just a person in the mirror.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Are you, Ashley, in fact, part of a movement?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
That is a great question.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
HM.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
My first thought was, amplify is the movement? It just
has My.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
DNA and financial livers say, seems trendy. I see a
lot of people out there. I won't say no names,
I won't say they're frauds, but I don't like what
they're doing because I know it's not right in the
way they apply it, like it's a YouTube setup. How
do you separate yourself from I want to say competition.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
One of the biggest thing I do I don't do
is bash other people. That's the first that's my first standard.
Because I remember when I was on Wall Street, when
I bought my first stock in twenty eleven, twenty twelve,
there was no financial educational Internet. I have my Wall
Street and the everyday person did not have it. It
was not in your school system. You weren't talking about
the dinner table. So one of the beautiful things about
(15:42):
the Internet is that at least there is a conversation
about something our community has never talked about. That's the
first thing. So I applaud anybody who makes an attempt
right now. One of the biggest things that I think
I do, and an advantage I might have, is I come.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
From a Wall Street background.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yes, so I knew finance and was doing finance before
the Internet became a thing. The Internet just became an
outlet for me to release what was already inside of
my heart. And so my story never changed from the
day I started posting on Instagram to the day I
left Wall Street.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
My mission has never changed.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I've gone through things in life, I've evolved as a woman,
but the core focus was always dedicated to the people
that I did not see come into that building when
I worked on Wall Street. And so I think one
of the biggest differentiators is one I never did this
for money, mm, because if I wanted money, I would
have stayed on Wall Street. Like if I'm if like
I went through a lot to even try to figure
out how to teach a child how to buy a
stock when people were not paying emplify anything. And so
(16:37):
I think one the authenticity around the purpose where it's
not driven by money but driven by the how.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
To show the world how to build that wealth.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
MM people can feel that, and I run my entire
company like that. And so when we think of Empify,
and if you look at our logo, it's it's it's
a transformation into the colored green. Green doesn't represent money,
it represents the heart chakra. So everything we lead with
is from all Because if you love the person in
the mirror, you can build any type of wealth that
you need. But if you don't believe in a person
(17:04):
in the mirror, it's now empathized job to believe in you.
And because I've seen what was possible and you might
not have, you got to borrow my belief. But if
I don't love you for who you are to take
you where you need to go, it doesn't work. And
I think that is what people can feel.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
money making conversations masterclass. Welcome back to the money Making
Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
(17:41):
Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Ashley, I go to your social media, you are fire taking,
I see finance, I see fashion. Is that intentional?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
When I went to Howard, one of the best there's
things I loved about Howard is that you had to
wear a black and blue suit to business orientation twice
a week. Yes, I learned how to eat, I learned
how to dress. I had the ugly stockings, I had
to shoes. I had all of that to prepare me
to be on Wall Street. And I don't I couldn't
say that it was fully who I was, And I
can't say that that always resonates with the people that
(18:19):
I serve. And so the day that I left Wall Street,
I told myself, I will never go wear stockings. I
would not force myself to wear a black or blue suit.
I was going to create and feel that Ashley I
wanted to be and show the world wealth doesn't have
a color. Therefore it looks like Ashton Marie Fox, and
so I am intentional about what I wear, how I look,
(18:41):
because if I wore a suit, if I look like
I'm on Wall Street, you would judge me, Yes, you
would you You would have a preconcy perception.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
You might be a little intimidated.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
But no matter what I look like, the moment I
open my mouth, it sounds like I worked on Wall Street.
It sounds like that I have education, And so for me,
I want to be Ashley and I wanna connect with
the people that from a normal place. I don't want
to be black and blue suit trench coach like Wall
Street has a look and it it works well. But
for the audience, I want to serve who who hasn't
(19:11):
had the opportunity to be in that building. What if
I built my own building and we looked we all
looked a different way, and it didn't have a uniform
and had a level of excellence based off of who
you were and what you wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
And this is just who actually is.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
That's all Ashley Financial literacy, social media engagement. Are you
shocked how people react to you?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
In the beginning, I was if I'm if I'm being
really honest? The reason I went the reason I went
to therapy is I was asked to be on Fox News.
This was like twenty seventeen and no, no, even before that,
I was featured on Jim Kramer's The Street in twenty fourteen.
That was the first time I had makeup. I was
in a green room and I was I didn't really
sign out to be famous. And I was also on
the version and kicked out my apartment. So I felt like,
(19:51):
who am Midasa? The world about money and I don't
even have it. But when I started going on TV
and people started to reach out, I liked what I saw. Uh,
you know how you look at yourself on camera, you
tryn to find what's wrong with you, Like there was
nothing wrong. I did great, but I couldn't handle it.
And so I remember a mentor of mine telling me,
it's selfish of you to how who you are from
the world, knowing what you know. And in that moment,
(20:13):
it was kind of like, however, Astuley and her energy
and whoever she is, and it's becoming that needs to
be seen because when I think about just a a
black person in finance, with the education, with the intellect,
with the credentials, we don't always have that and it's
like they might exist, but they might not be allowed
to be public the way I am because we were
(20:34):
for a bank.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
You can't really do a lot of those things.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
And so it was really important for me to accept
who I was and know that my purpose in life
was not for what I wanted, but what I felt like.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
The world deserved to have.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
And then as time progressed, it was kind of like, Okay,
maybe you're kind of good at this, right because I
never really did it for the money, and I I
also didn't know what came with the world knowing who
I was. M. I thought it just came with the
world having what was inside my brain.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
MM.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
And I think it's a culmination of both.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
And I think we do the Black community specifically, a
disservice by hiding who we are because there's not enough
of the excellence dominating our time lines or dominating the world.
And sometimes I feel like I have to compete with America.
I have to compete because the news is not going
to promote all positive things. That's not how they make
their money, and I respect it. So if I gotta
(21:23):
compete with your timeline our natural desire for negativity, because
that's what we're drawn to, that's what we sell. M
How can I just give you something that gives you
the joy that I need you to feel, and the
education and I need you to receive and constantly embedded
in your mind so that I'm conditioning you the same
way the Internet conditions your mind. And when I started
to understand the importance of that and the reframing and
(21:44):
the unlearning we have to have when it comes to
ref redefining what wealth is, I made that my duty.
And so I think in the beginning, no, that wasn't
the goal, and I didn't really care. But as I
started to evolve, it kind of was just like, who
but Ashley Fox is going to do this? And I
just that just became my purpose, my life's purpose.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Okay, mm compound interests account? Is that a safe way
to start a stock?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I don't think it's a this or that.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
I think it's this and that, right, So I don't
I think the world tells you you get a job,
you go to school, you get the job to pay No,
you go to school, get the job, you go you
get the job to pay for school back, buy a
house and you're good, right, And I think we all
know people who make good money. Well that's not the
American way, be cause that's not a bankan SYSM makes money.
But yes, but if we talking about the actual banking system,
(22:33):
you buy that house, you take out that credit card,
like the bangan sism thrives off a debt. So if
we go the American way, which is fine, I just
think that's that's not we can't stop there, right. I'm
not telling you to quit your job, but I am
telling you to create wealth. I'm not telling you not
buy your house, but I do want you to know
that America makes a whole lot of money every time
you pay that mortgage, and they make a lot more
money off of you in that house. You're paying that mortgage,
(22:54):
but you got Undertand how the game is played.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
What happens after that?
Speaker 3 (22:58):
What if we save and you ud utilize savings accounts
because I have a savings account for my short term needs,
but not for my long term GA gain like my
long term game plan. So yes, you can save and invest.
Yes you can invest and pay down debt. So you're
not a bad person with debt. You're not a bad person.
If you only save, you're not a bad person. If
you don't save, but you cannot expect to have the
(23:18):
financial ease, the financial clarity, and the freedom you want
mentally and financially if all you're gonna do is you
to saving the account because you cannot save your weight
to wealth and you can't work your way there. And
please show me somebody who has done that, cause I
would love to talk to them. But when I was
on Wall Street, if our clients only had money in
a savings account, it was our job to tell them
how to put it to work because it's something called inflation.
(23:39):
You can't sit and talk to somebody with a hundred
million dollars and inflation is three percent, and they they're
gonna lose money just by sitting there. So instead of
me having a hundred million and losing thirty million on
my money, I'm thinking, I'm thinking not thirty million, but
you get y yeah, yeah, you get the math. Me
thinking what if I had a hundred dollars and I'm
(24:00):
losing my three percent? While it might not seem like
a lot, I gotta wire my mind, like I'm like,
I'm that one hundred million dollar person. And so I
used to like train my mind to like they started
with one hundred million. I bought my first stop with
one hundred dollars and I'm just gonna do it a
in a small way and grow over time. But I
will watch how if they had savings accounts and there
was money sitting in there, we had to go work
(24:21):
with investors to put together a structured plan for them
to ensure that they're not losing money with it's just
sitting there. And people think wealthy people like when you
see like big companies or people have billions of dollars
or they're worth billions. They're worth billions, they have billions
in cash. Wealthy people don't just have cash laying around.
It's always going to work. And so it's training people
(24:43):
to know. You gotta give your money a job description,
what is it going to do, what is it doing,
how is it performing? To make sure it gives you
what you need and the results you desire. And unfortunately
you can't do that in a savings acount. And not
to mention when people you saves, again, I don't they
know the money gets loaned.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Out the people.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
So your credit card, your student loans, your business sans,
all of that comes from somebody savings account and they're
just lonely getting charging you a interest but charging someone
a higher interest rate on that debt. And that's how
the banking system makes money. So yes, but that's not
your only option. Okay, and and and and life has
shown us that that can't be your only option.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
There has to be something more out there for us.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
To do, right, Okay, let's this Black Enterprise honored you.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Black Enterprise, so you know what's so interesting. Black Enterprise
was one of the first companies to see me MM.
And this is back when like MM scared Ashley was
just starting therapy, and they had asked me to start
writing for them. And I'm like writing I don't even
know I knew how to write, but I'm like, I
got something to say. And I've done a lot with them,
and I've been featured a lot of places. But I
think Black Enterprise meant a lot because I did not know.
(25:49):
I remember seeing an email I was getting my hair done.
I was like so excited. But I remember what Black
Enterprise represented to me growing up and what it represented
to me when I was trying to figure out emplify
we weren't that when Black Enterprise saw me and I
spoke at their conferences and did interviews and things like that.
This was not the Ashley that they saw. This was
(26:10):
not the emplify like we were still figured. I don't
know if we had a website at certain points in time,
but it was cool that they saw something and they
felt something when it was just the idea in my mind.
And so to be able to be on and on
their forty under forty list it meant the world to me.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I've been featured a lot of places, but it was.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Like that was at one place, like you guys saw
Ashley when she was in her twenties, before Ashley even
knew that this was a possible thing, when she still
doubted herself. So it actually really really meant a lot
to me, Ashley.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
I keep going back to social because you are defining
wealth from a standpoint of it can be fun, you
could be attractive, you can make money, you could be
fashion savvy. Because the way people react to you, I'm overwhelmed.
I mean brands I go, you know, especially on Instagram,
(27:03):
I go that many, like many, that many views, that
many views. Really, I know it's not normal because you're
not normal. What's the big picture?
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I think now, it's really not a question of like
if it's a matter of when, like at what?
Speaker 4 (27:23):
What?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
How big can I go?
Speaker 3 (27:25):
How big can I create Ashley's brand, empathize reach because
there's people all I'll be in the airport, I've I've
had conversation. I remember in Greece, I'm teaching people on
a boat about investing, and it's like, how do Because,
like I said, wealth doesn't have a color. It does
like it has no true identity to it. So it's like,
how big can I take something so general but so
(27:49):
important to so many people and embedded in their mind
to show them that you can heal, smile, go to therapy,
figure life out, and still build wealth.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
And still do what it is you want to do.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
And I think for me, it's all about every post
I make has an intention, Every post I make has
a training and an unlearning that I want to give
the world a sense of inspiration, a sense of guidance,
a sense of struggles, Like I want to be as
honest and transparent so that people can see me at
my core but also see me in the intellect that
I present. And at this point, it's just a matter
how big can you get and how consistent can you be?
(28:23):
And how big of a team can you build so
that this is an operating machine that changes the world
every single day with every single post.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Okay, I'll be remiss if I didn't ask you for tips,
at least three tips, then my audience could take away
from the Implify brand.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
The first thing I would say, and this goes for everybody.
We don't got to go deep into this, but I
feel inclined to say this. The last time I checked personally,
there was no president that put me through college was
there with me getting kicked out my apartment building. Emplify
was there to help me buy my first stock. And
(29:00):
the person in the mirror is the person we always
got to depend on. And people can have their political views,
which I respect. I just think at the end of
the day is you and you, and there's no president
that can build the wealth that you can create for
your family. And I think when we allow our emotion
to subside and we start thinking like a business owner
(29:23):
with intellect and putting our family and our goals first.
Because you can't be angry and bill wealth at the
same time. You can't be emotional with the market and
build wealth at the same time. And so the biggest
thing I would say is let go to the emotions
and start using logic and play the game like I
wanna build a billion dollar business.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I'm not there.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Yet, but it's a lot of billion dollar businesses out
there that I can own a piece of. I don't
have to like you. I don't have to work at
the company. But if I use your product, and I'm
the reason you're a billion dollar business, I'm helping you
build wealth, so I deserve a piece of the pie.
So take the logic, own where your dollar goes, and
(30:07):
consider owning a piece of the company. Cause they are
about five big old companies that are worth trillion dollars,
and I can pretty much guarantee at least three out
of those five we use on a weekly basis. So
my mere existence is, for example, why an Amazon exists.
I buy Ketchup, I buy Shower, I buy everything, but
I own stock in that company.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I don't know bet Jeff Bezos.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I don't have to like Jeff Bezos, but I love
the company he created and it's getting even better. And
but I own a piece of that, and so does
my seven year old niece, and she will be wealthy
for the rest of her life. So that might have
been like five tips in one. But the moral of
the story is no emotion, straight logic, and consider the
companies you give your money to and own them because
(30:49):
they are a lot cheaper than you think. While it's
worth a trillion, the stock is like two hundred dollars,
the stocks are less than three four hundred dollars, right,
So really consider those things.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
The other thing I would say.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Is pay yourself, and we pay everybody. We make money,
and we we want, we gotta pay our bills.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I gotta pay down debt.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
It's like I was talking to somebody the other day, like, yeah,
I gotta pay down debt, and it's like, yes, do
that and invest because when you pay down debt, you're
also making the banking system richer. Mm so what about you,
Maybe we can consider owning a bank stock that we
gotta pay the credit card back to. I don't know,
but but pay you and sometimes that is twenty dollars.
And then you go pay your rent because you pay
your rent, you pay yourself one, but you pay your kids,
(31:32):
you pay the restaurant, uh, the bar tend at the restaurant,
You pay your cardinal, you pay your ga, you pay everybody,
and you look up and you're the one that doesn't
have money, and it's like, well, who who's gonna worry
about you? M not the American system, not the the
not the mortgage company, not the gas nobody's nobody's worrying
about you. We want them to, but they're not. They
gotta run their business. You gotta look at you like
(31:52):
that you incorporated. You have to take care of you.
You have to pay you, and sometimes that means you
gotta start with twenty dollars. Because people are not gonna
be driven by the result. You're gonna be driven by
your progress. I need you to be addicted to investing.
I need you to question every company you come across
and wonder, if it's publicly traded, how much is it.
Let me go research that company because I might want
(32:13):
to put that in my portfolio. I always tell people,
when you think about the stocks that you choose, they're
sitting at your table. Their job is to perform for you,
and if they're not, you bencham when you get rid
of them. These companies deserve to be in your portfolio,
but you have to make sure they deserve to be
sitting next to you, and that is to me.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
It's an honor to be in.
Speaker 3 (32:30):
Ashley's portfolio, because if I don't like you, I'm not
investing in you. But I have plans, and I know
I don't want to do it alone, so let me
help somebody. Let me allow some of these billionaires to
help me get money too. You gotta think like that.
We can't hate the people with wealth yet yet to
have a desire to obtain it. We got to figure
out how to take what we know lead, take the good,
leave the bad, to be able to change our family's
(32:51):
lives because nobody's gonna do it but you.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Okay, thank you, Ashley. You're wonderful as you usual. Tell
us how to rehuat.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
You, Ampifi dot com, empify dot com. You can shoot
me an email info at mfi dot com. I'm across
all social media platforms, Underscore, Ashley, m Fox, TikTok, I
am the Ashley m Fox, Ashley and Fox on YouTube,
LinkedIn everywhere, and emplithizers all over Instagram social media as well.
But yes, I do respond to dms, I do respond
to emails. I might not always hit you right when
(33:18):
you send it, but I do my best to get
back to you. But if you have a question, definitely come.
We got a lot of free classes, free resources to
be able to help you start so that you can
continue to build every single day, break by brick, share
by share.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation Masterclass. This
has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass hosted
by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests on
the show today and thank you o' listening to your
audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
I want to be a guest on the show, visit
Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
(33:52):
Join us next week and remember to always leave with
your gifts. Keep winning to
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