July 30th, 2017 I discuss the incredible insane spirit that Elon Mush has to achieve his goals, how passion is part of the formula, and consumer protection laws. 

Elon Musk gave up all his fortune to focus on SpaceX and Tesla. Would you give up your fortunate to chase your passion? 

Passion is part of the process. Don't let yourself be discouraged by someone else's failures. 

Learn about the different consumer protection laws. I talk in detail about The Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Credit Card Act of 2009. 

Tune in Sundays at 9pm CST on my Facebook Live to catch the best commentary, news, and opinion on entrepreneurship and personal finance. 

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Student loan debt is getting out of control. So much so that it is in the $1 trillion mark on the amount of student loans. Let's hope that the government wipes out student loans for good so we can move on from this debt. 

What do you think? 

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50cent once said, "I don't think ambition is a learned behavior. I think it's part of a person's natural character." The question I ask in this vlog is, "do you think ambition is part of a person's natural character?" 

Let me know by commenting on the video. 

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Listen as I discuss why passion is part of the process. People will try to get you away from chasing your dreams and doing something that you are passionate about but what people forget is that passion is part of the formula. 

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In my vlog episode 3 I continue to talk about LeBron James $1 million investment in Blaze Pizza current value at $25 million after a significant investment by a private equity firm. 

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Last night's Facebook live I discussed LeBron "King" James turning his $1million investment in Blaze Pizza into $25million after a private equity firm invested in the company. How to be an entrepreneur in your own right, and establishing SMART financial goals. 

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Mr. J Real Talk Vlog Episode 2 is all about writing SMART Financial Goals. SMART is the acronym for Specific, Measurable, Action-0riented, Realistic, Time-Based. Every financial goal that you create must be written down a specific goal, measure the amount, take action towards that goal, be realistic, and have a deadline. 

Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube Channel for daily Vlog updates. 

Watch my first of many Vlog episode that I host on my YouTube channel proving with impactful insights on ed tech, entrepreneurship, and personal finance. Subscribe to my YouTube channel today. 

​Earlier this week I received my copy of The Economist, The future of learning: How technology is transforming education. The first article under the leader's section titled, “Together, technology and teachers can revamp schools” captivated my attention from the first to the last word. As an educational technology (ed tech) advocate, user, and student of the profession I will highlight parts of the article that I agree and disagree.
 
The article started by stating how the ed tech has a cycle of hype and flop due to teachers and their unions along with the unproven methods of ed tech. I am assuming the writer has not talked to all teachers across the country because surely not every teacher or union is against ed tech.  The hype and flop happen with any industry except in the education industry “factory methods” of teaching is still prevalent, and innovation takes a while.
 
The article also claims that for ed tech to function correctly in schools three things must be right: personalized learning must follow how students learn, narrows the inequalities of education, and ed tech potential relies on teachers embracing it.
 
I will agree on the personalized learning must follow how students learn. When a new ed tech tool comes out everyone is fascinated by the tool and when you add the “personalized learning” tag to it even more so. The tool has to do what it says it will do, and there has been actual evidence that it is increasing student’s knowledge, not just scores.
 
In regards to the inequalities that is up to the states to determine when every school district gets its far share. As long as school districts rely on property tax for funding, I don’t see how inequality in education will disappear. There is only so much philanthropy money to go around.
 
Teachers are embracing technology, but with time the newer breed of students will take over the arcane methods of “factory teaching.” All over the country, there are weekly education twitter chats such as #oklaed for educators in Oklahoma and #edchatsa for teachers in South Africa among many others that share ideas and better teaching practices. So going back to the point of teachers being the reason for the hype and flop, check out one the local ed chats to see not every teacher is to blame.
 
I wholeheartedly agree with the article's statement, “given what ed tech promises today, closed-mindedness has no place in the classroom.” For ed tech to work there has to be an open mind, find what works for the class, and have results not just outcomes.
 
 

In last night's Mr. J Real Talk show I discussed the new rules affecting credit scores, developing an elevator pitch, and private student loans. 

Credit Scores
In a new ruling public records on credit reports will not affect peoples credit scores. The two public records include tax liens and civil judgements. The new rules will affect 7% of the U.S. population and will raise their scores by at least 20 points. However, the new scores does not mean that banks and other lending institutions will not look at other factors affecting credit score and history such as high credit card debt. The best things to do is lower your credit card debt, pay your taxes, and try not to get sued. 

Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is a one minute speech to persuade a potential investor you meet in an elevator to invest in your company. In reality the elevator pitch is just a speech about your business said during a business plan competition or investor meeting. In my experience the best elevator pitches come from people who are fully invested in their company, give passion, and do not have to use notecards to give their pitch. I used a template from the Founders Institute to write my pitch for this show and you should too if your having trouble writing your elevator pitch. 

Private Student Loans
If you have private student loans you may be in for some luck. The National Collegiate Student Loan Trust recently lost $5 billion in student loan paperwork. If you have a private student loan with the Trust I highly suggest you check to see if your paperwork went missing because you may be off the hook. Let's just keep our eyes and ears open for any other company who loses their paperwork. 

Tune in Sunday, July 30 at 9pm CT for the Mr. J Real Talk show live on Facebook Live. 

Before the birth of iTunes, the career of a music artist was entirely focused on selling albums, getting their songs on the radio. Getting on tour. iTunes changed that dynamic.
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Hip-Hop artists, along with the entire music industry, realized that selling albums would not guarantee financial success because people could easily download the songs for free illegally or purchase them individually from iTunes. It no longer required an album investment for a body of work. Consumers could spend less than $2.00 and buy the one song they wanted.

Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/business-2/hip-hop-entrepreneurs-establishing-wealth-outside-of-album-sales-20516/#QoGA6f3m8Y2f3UI5.99

In July 19th, 2017 show Mr. J Real Talk discussed 50cent Effen Vodka deal, the little details of purchasing a vehicle, and how fun in the sun can turn into fun in hell. 

Purchasing a Vehicle
When purchasing a vehicle it is important to look at the all the small details before making the purchase. People often over look additional costs such as local and states taxes, license plate fees, and other fees that can add up. Before making the purchase do your research, get a good interest rate on your car loan, give a sizable down payment, and make sure your total car costs do not exceed 20% of your monthly net pay. 

50cent Selling his stake in Effen Vodka
Reports are saying that 50cent recently sold his minority stake in Effen Vodka, which made him a cool $60 million. This is 50cent's second successful business ownership venture, the first being the $200 million he made from Vitamin Water when it was bought by Coca-Cola. 

Fun in the Sun can turn into Fun in Hell
When vacationing make sure you do your research and not go extremely cheap. There are times when spending a few extra dollars is worth every penny, for example, extra leg room on long international flights and flying direct instead of connections. Trust me spending a few dollars will not only save you the headaches but also from having to spend extra on hotels or missing flights. 

Resources
https://www.dmv.org/
http://www.taxrates.com/
https://www.hopper.com/
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/11/whens-the-best-time-to-book-a-flight.html
https://www.vibe.com/2017/07/50-cent-ends-partnership-with-effen-vodka-60-million/

I remember the exact moment that I realized inexpensive fast food could hurt my wallet and my health.

I was living in Oklahoma City and preparing to move. I was spending a lot of money on the move, but getting everything ready left me short on time and energy to cook (packing my kitchen stuff didn’t help either). So, I ate nothing but fast food for ten consecutive days. Big mistake.

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