Brown Ambition

This week on Brown Buzz, we’re cutting through the headlines and getting into the stories that affect our money, careers, and lives.
First, Mandi discusses the allegations involving Cornell and LSU, why Title IX is not the same thing as a criminal investigation, and what students and survivors should know if they want to explore a report to law enforcement.
TW: From 02:21 - 11:05 this episode includes discussion of SA.
Then, we get practical:
• The career skill employers say matters most in an AI-powered workplace
• Why more buyers are considering adjustable-rate mortgages—and the questions to ask before you sign
• A listener inherits more than $100,000 from her great-aunt: Should she pay debt, save it, invest it, or spend a little to honor her aunt?
• Why $100,000 invested at a hypothetical 7% annual return could grow to nearly $1.5 million over 40 years, before taxes, fees, inflation, or investment volatility
Plus, Mandi gives Alexis Nikole Nelson—the Black Forager—her Brown Boost after Alexis’s cookbook, Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!, lands on the New York Times bestseller list.
In this episode
• Cornell and LSU: What the reporting raises about campus accountability and Title IX
• How a Title IX process differs from reporting to campus or local police
• RAINN resources for support and reporting options
• IBM’s survey on critical thinking and discernment in the AI workplace
• Fixed-rate mortgages vs. adjustable-rate mortgages
• How to handle a $100,000 inheritance without rushing into a decision
• Emergency funds, high-interest debt, investing, and getting flat-fee financial advice
• Brown Boost: Alexis Nikole Nelson, the Black Forager
Resources mentioned
• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673)
• RAINN: rainn.org
• Alexis Nikole Nelson / The Black Forager: Happy Snacking, Don’t Die!
• Listen to Mandi’s interview with Alexis Nikole Nelson in the previous Brown Ambition episode.
Listener question CTA
Have a money or career question for a future Brown Buzz? Email brownambitionpodcast@gmail.com or send a DM to @brownambitionpodcast.
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What happens when the thing that makes you feel most like yourself doesn’t fit neatly into the version of success you were raised to pursue?
For Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka The Black Forager, that question has shaped nearly every chapter of her life. From growing up as a curious, outdoorsy kid who learned about plants in her mother’s garden to studying environmental science and theater, working in marketing, and eventually building a community of millions around her love of foraging, Alexis has never really fit into just one box. And that’s exactly the point.
In this episode, Alexis joins Brown Ambition to talk about building a life and business that makes room for all of her interests, identities, and curiosities. She shares how her mother introduced her to foraging as a child, why she initially kept her love of plants and the outdoors to herself, and what it took to stop suppressing the parts of herself that didn’t fit other people’s expectations of Blackness, femininity, or success.
Mandi and Alexis also get into the less whimsical side of turning a passion into a business, from navigating taxes and forming an LLC to saying no to brand deals, managing burnout, and learning how to treat your creativity like a business without losing the joy that made you love it in the first place. They also talk about connecting with Black ancestry through food and the land, the importance of curiosity in adulthood, and why getting to know the world around us can make our lives feel a little more magical.
In this episode, we get into:
Growing up with a mother who was a Black corporate leader and finding connection with her through gardening and the outdoors

How Alexis discovered foraging at five years old and never really stopped being curious about plants

The pressure to pursue a traditional, “successful” career and what happened when Alexis realized environmental engineering wasn’t for her

Going from environmental science and theater to marketing and eventually becoming a full-time creator

Why Alexis chose the name Black Forager and the importance of making Blackness visible in spaces where it hasn’t always been expected

Challenging narrow ideas about Black femininity, identity, hobbies, and what Black people are “supposed” to be interested in

Finding a deeper connection to Black history and ancestry through plants, gardening, and the land

The complicated history of Black people and the outdoors and what it means to reclaim those spaces

What happens when your hobby becomes your livelihood, including burnout and the pressure to always create

Building a business around your personality without losing yourself in the process

Why curiosity is a muscle we have to keep exercising, especially as adults

Making everyday life more magical by getting to know the natural world around us

Giving yourself permission to be playful, weird, creative, and fully yourself

Alexis’ new cookbook, Happy Snacking, Don’t Die, and the community that helped bring it to life

Plus, Alexis shares a few beginner-friendly foraging tips, the plant she thinks we should stop calling a weed, why we might want to rethink our relationship with black walnuts, and her official ranking of some very whimsical activities.
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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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