ST. LOUIS — Dasha Kennedy believes she has her life together. But just a short time ago, she couldn’t say that.
“Things were, they were bad," she said.
A couple of years back, her life was in pieces. The mother of two struggled to make ends meet.
“I felt like I was broken in so many ways... I was living paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “Catching the bus for two years with my children. It was hard. I was doing it in the middle of the night.”
After some soul searching, Dasha faced her issues head-on, made changes and got on her feet.
“The only way forward is through," she said. "I don’t think anything worth overcoming is easy. It was painful but it was necessary.”
Now Kennedy is the woman behind "The Broke Black Girl." She's a financial coach who helps other women of color manage their money. She knows the struggle because she was once in the same place.
She now uses her journey.
“All of the things that I’ve gone through. All of my hardships.”
She uses her knowledge.
“I have 10 years of experience in accounting and banking.”
And she empowers other women of color to help pull their lives together with her The Broke Black Girl Facebook page.
“I can empathize with someone who’s trying to get it together.”
She said it's surreal the page has more than 63,000 followers.
Kennedy feels like she owes it to them. She gave three tips that anyone can use:
No. 1: Start tracking your finances. “Write it down. This will give you a good idea of what you are spending your money on.”
No. 2: “Be OK with not being OK.”
No. 3: earn extra money with a side hustle. “I feel like a side hustle is the new job security.”
Dasha is proof that a financial turn around is possible. But first you have to face it. “I always tell people to start where you are," she says.
And then stick to a plan. “Being resilient that’s the only way through.”
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