Brown Ambition

Brown Buzz is back! Mandi breaks down the Nikole Hannah-Jones school-choice debate, the latest in the Nolan Wells case, why the AI job apocalypse may be more complicated than it sounds, and what SAVE borrowers need to do now.
In this episode
• Nikole Hannah-Jones, school segregation, and the emotional cost of impossible parenting choices
• Why repair and accountability matter after harm
• The latest in the Nolan Wells case
• The AI “boomerang” trend and how to strengthen your career resilience
• What SAVE borrowers need to do now
• Kennedy Ryan’s major adaptation news
BA Fam action steps
• Parents: Review what your child is bringing home from school, ask questions, document concerns, and organize with other families when systems are not meeting students’ needs.
• Workers: Update your résumé with business outcomes, build fluency with the AI tools relevant to your industry.
• SAVE borrowers: Check your StudentAid.gov and loan-servicer accounts, find your individual transition deadline, compare repayment options, and submit an application before that deadline.
RESOURCES:
Explore federal income-driven repayment options
SAVE-plan transition information
🎁 FREE LINK to "In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? By Nikole Hannah-Jones
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In this episode, Mandi sits down with Dr. Tasneem “Dr. Taz” Bhatia, a board-certified physician and integrative medicine expert, to talk about women’s health, hormones, healthcare, and what it really means to advocate for yourself. Dr. Taz shares her own experience of becoming a doctor who became the patient after struggling with fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, hair loss, and other symptoms that were initially dismissed as stress.
She also explains how her journey into integrative medicine changed the way she thinks about gut health, hormones, nutrition, stress, supplements, and preventive healthcare—and why women need to understand their bodies instead of simply accepting that feeling bad is “normal.”
But this conversation goes beyond health. Dr. Taz opens up about building her healthcare business from two rooms in her husband’s dental office, bootstrapping her businesses, navigating money with her husband, and eventually bringing her clinics, supplements, digital platform, and other ventures together under Whole Plus.
In this episode:
Why women need to stop normalizing exhaustion, brain fog, weight gain, and other health symptoms

Dr. Taz’s experience of becoming a doctor who became the patient

The connection between stress, gut health, hormones, and overall wellness

What women in their 30s and 40s should know about hormone health

Understanding thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, insulin, and other health markers

How to become a better advocate for yourself at the doctor’s office

Why your medical appointment should be treated like a business meeting

The difference between conventional, functional, and integrative medicine

What to know before adding supplements to your routine

Why supplements shouldn’t simply be chosen because they’re trending

How preventive and proactive healthcare can change the way we approach wellness

The financial realities of accessing personalized and integrative healthcare

Why healthcare providers need more time with patients

How Dr. Taz built her first practice while still working in the ER

Bootstrapping a healthcare business and betting on yourself

How Dr. Taz and her husband navigated money, business, and entrepreneurship together

The evolution of Dr. Taz’s businesses into Whole Plus

Why women need to make time for quiet, reflection, and self-care

Connect With Dr. Taz
Learn more about Dr. Taz and Hol+ at holplus.co
Connect With Brown Ambition
Follow Brown Ambition on Instagram: @brownambitionpodcast
Follow Mandi Money: @mandimoney
If this episode spoke to you, share it with a woman who’s been told she’s “just stressed,” “just getting older,” or needs to simply power through—and remind her that asking questions about her health is part of taking care of her wealth, her future, and herself.
Note: This is for informational purposes and not meant to be medical advice.
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In this special Friday episode, Mandi celebrates the BA Fam, shares the origin story behind Brown Ambition, and introduces Brown Buzz—your new end-of-week roundup of the headlines shaping your money, career, culture, and life.
This week on Brown Buzz:
• The Federal Reserve raised interest rates. What does that mean for credit-card debt, variable-rate loans, savings accounts, and your investments?
• More job seekers are getting interviewed by AI bots instead of actual humans. Mandi shares how to navigate the robot-filled hiring process—and why your real-life network matters more than ever.
• Ed Sheeran’s tour drama: Macklemore was removed from the tour after speaking out for Palestine, other artists walked away, and the controversy raises bigger questions about neutrality, power, and who gets to speak.
• Rep. Jasmine Crockett is facing backlash after honoring Chris Brown at a Texas concert. Mandi unpacks the difference between fandom, Black joy, public recognition, and accountability.
• Plus, a Brown Boost for Rep. Joyce Beatty after her response to President Donald Trump.

Join the BA Book Club
The Brown Ambition Book Club is back! Our September/October pick is Love, Me: A Letter to Black Women in a Toxic Country, Career, and Relationship by Tiffany D. Cross.

Join the book club here:
https://mandimoney.myflodesk.com/r77pw75z5q
Sign up to receive details about the virtual October book-club meetup. The invitation and event details will go to BA Fam who join through the link.

Stay connected
Have a headline, question, or topic you want on a future Brown Buzz? Email brownambitionpodcast@gmail.com, tag @brownambitionpodcast on Instagram, or send a DM @brownambitionpodcast

Follow and subscribe to Brown Ambition, and come back every Wednesday for guest conversations and every Friday for Brown Buzz.
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What happens when the ambition that helped you build your life starts costing you your well-being?
For many ambitious women, especially women of color, success can come with a hidden cost: saying yes when we’re exhausted, pushing through when our bodies are asking us to slow down, and measuring our worth by how much we can accomplish. But wellness isn’t just about massages and self-care days. Sometimes it looks like setting boundaries, asking for help, knowing what you actually need, and giving yourself permission to come back to yourself.
In this episode, Koya Webb joins Mandi Money to talk about the connection between wellness, ambition, money, and leadership. She opens up about losing her mother while writing her latest book, how grief changed the way she thinks about success and family, and why she’s learning to embrace a new version of herself.
Koya also shares the entrepreneurial lessons she learned building her wellness business—from hiring and structuring a team to finding mentors and creating a financial design that helps her determine what she actually needs to earn and how much her time is worth.
Plus, we talk about the rituals that can help us manage stress, process difficult experiences, and stop abandoning ourselves in the name of ambition.
In this episode:
Why ambition can sometimes lead to self-abandonment

What grief taught Koya about success, family, and living authentically

Building a wellness business from the ground up

Why you don’t need a huge team to build a successful business

The importance of structure, mentorship, and knowing when to ask for help

Koya’s approach to financial well-being and “financial design”

How to determine what you actually need to earn

Using breathwork, affirmations, and other rituals to regulate stress

Why women of color need tools to navigate difficult workplaces and relationships

Learning to process pain instead of carrying it

How to recognize when you’re self-abandoning for the sake of success

Why sometimes the goal isn’t to leave—it’s to learn how to stay without losing yourself

Finding the wisdom in your wounds and remembering that you can always come back

Connect With Koya
Follow Koya Webb on Instagram: @koyawebb
Learn more about Koya’s work and get her new book, Well-Being Rituals: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1394387229?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Connect With Brown Ambition
Follow us on Instagram: @brownambitionpodcast
Follow Mandi: @mandimoney

If this episode spoke to you, share it with a friend who is building a big life — and needs permission to protect her peace while she does it.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you spend years pouring everything into your career, relationships, and success only to realize they aren’t pouring the same love back into you?
In this episode of Brown Ambition, Mandi sits down with journalist and author Tiffany D. Cross to talk about her new book, Love, Me: A Letter to Black Women in a Toxic Country, Career, and Relationship.
Tiffany opens up about her very public exit from MSNBC, rebuilding her life after career heartbreak, and the difficult process of learning to recognize her own value. Together, Mandi and Tiffany explore the parallels between toxic workplaces and toxic relationships—and why so many of us chase validation through promotions, titles, money, and other people’s approval.
They also talk about financial security, building your own table instead of waiting for a seat, the power of community, and why Black women need to think differently about career success, wealth, and what we’re building for the next generation.
Plus, Tiffany makes a passionate case for putting down the phone, picking up a book, and remembering that the algorithm is not the blueprint.
In this episode:
Tiffany Cross on leaving MSNBC and starting over

Career burnout, workplace validation, and knowing your worth

Toxic relationships and toxic workplaces

Financial security and building wealth

Creating your own opportunities instead of waiting for a seat

Community, Black women, and building for the next generation

Why reading and learning still matter in the age of social media

BOOK CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT: Also, we're thrilled to announce the Brown Ambition Book Club is back! And Tiffany's book is our September/October selection. We're giving 5 lucky listeners a FREE copy -- be sure to listen to the full episode to find out how to get yours!
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