The Hilltop Glove Podcast | Jerrica Aiken

[00:00:00] DJ And?: Hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Miss Jerica Aiken. Jerica is a blogger, motivational speaker, podcaster, realtor, and most importantly, a mother.

[00:00:11] DJ And?: Also known as Lady Jerica. She's a native of Charleston, South Carolina that has dedicated her life to empowering and uplifting others. Her inspirational podcast, coastal Entrepreneur, seeks to inspire and heal women through a holistic and spiritual approach. Her annual Building Up Women Conference attracts dozens of women from all over the southeast to be healed, uplifted, and empowered.

[00:00:31] DJ And?: In 2018, she was awarded a certificate of recognition for her efforts by Governor Henry McMaster. Erika's dedication and vast knowledge of low country makes her one of the top realtors in Somerville, South Carolina. She is also a member of the Trident of Charleston Trident Association of Realtors. Thank you for joining us today.

[00:00:49] DJ And?: I must apologize. I did not hit the modern record button the first time and we had a 

[00:00:53] Mic: whole 20 minute conversation. We all warmed up and you was murdering it. It was good. You were murdering 

[00:00:58] DJ And?: it. We was trying. [00:01:00] You 

[00:01:00] Mic: was a Scorpio. 

[00:01:01] DJ And?: We have five children and we didn't get none of the good stuff. So we're gonna, we're gonna hit this again and we're gonna knock 

[00:01:06] Jerrica Aiken: it out.

[00:01:07] Jerrica Aiken: Okay? Listen, no, listen. I am doing great. Listen, I appreciate just the opportunity. One thing, you guys have to get yourself a pat on the back just for allowing us entrepreneurs to have a platform. That we're able to come educate and empower others. So I thank you guys and how are you guys doing today?

[00:01:23] Jerrica Aiken: Doing great. 

[00:01:24] DJ And?: Excellent. Yeah, she was one of the first people to ask us how doing good, doing well. We gotta make sure we get that on phone. 

[00:01:28] Jerrica Aiken: Right? Right. She caress. Yeah, man. We care about the people. Yeah. 

[00:01:31] DJ And?: So we're gonna rehash this again, but just if you could tell our audience a little bit about your background, your history where you came from and your experiences growing up.

[00:01:38] DJ And?: And who 

[00:01:39] Jerrica Aiken: influenced you? All right, so a little bit about Je Aiken. Formerly JE Green. I'm literally a Charleston native, born and raised. I love, love my city. I love literally being from a place where are still cobble stones, where there's history, rich history and the people. We literally try our best to come together and make things [00:02:00] happen.

[00:02:00] Jerrica Aiken: So I definitely appreciate being here. I am, let's see. I have three brothers and sisters. I am the middle child. I'm raised in a household with a mom and dad at one point and then they got separated. So I literally have been through being underneath the roof with parents to literally learning from a single parent.

[00:02:19] Jerrica Aiken: So, I definitely appreciate those opportunities in my life 'cause they made me who I am today. Understood. 

[00:02:24] DJ And?: And I didn't ask this the first time. That's actually a good thing. Which parent did you end up living with after the divorce? My 

[00:02:30] Jerrica Aiken: mom. Yeah. So you got to see what it's like to be like a single mom and Right.

[00:02:35] Jerrica Aiken: It helped me. 'cause at 19 I was a single parent. Wow. You know? So going through that as, you know, seeing my mom to now, it's so crazy how life happens. 'cause to, to now to this day when there's a situation with my kids, both of my parents show up. Wow. Oh wow. Yeah. Wow. That's good. So it's all about how you want your end to be.

[00:02:53] Jerrica Aiken: You know, whatever. It began, like whatever emotions was involved in it, it changed to, now it's only about the kids. Yeah. So [00:03:00] everyone shows up. So it's about communication. So I, I definitely am thankful for the way that my life ended. It's dope, man. You seem like a really 

[00:03:06] Ta-Myia: great communicator. Yeah. Especially in the line of work that you 

[00:03:09] Jerrica Aiken: do.

[00:03:09] Jerrica Aiken: Like I, it wasn't always like this, it, it, it, it comes with trials, tribulations, going through things, you know what I mean? Like, life wasn't the easiest for me. But what I've learned that you can't be what's dealt to you. Mm-hmm. You know, what do you do with that? I literally picked up pieces that were dealt to me and I literally put my own puzzle together.

[00:03:26] Jerrica Aiken: Oh, dope. It's all about the cards. Come on, man. Just to do it right. The right deck of cards, right? Yeah. 

[00:03:31] DJ And?: Play 'em a certain way. It's like, I always say that it's the, it's the player that makes the cards work. That's true. I know we were speaking about this earlier, the fact that you did not start off as an entrepreneur or in the realtor world.

[00:03:42] DJ And?: You actually began doing a normal nine to five. Mm-hmm. Working in medical billing and accounting. Yep. Now going from there into the realtor world, could you explain to our audience one of the largest, I guess I could say the largest holes for you to jump over to make it over to the other side, 

[00:03:57] Jerrica Aiken: that gap?

[00:03:57] Jerrica Aiken: Ooh, it's rough. I think with [00:04:00] anything any change is gonna be difficult. We as the human species don't like change. Mm-hmm. It makes us feel irritable. It makes us feel like what's happening next? Feel me? Definitely that part. So literally going from before even going into real estate, I literally went from my nine to five to being a stay at home mom.

[00:04:16] Jerrica Aiken: Which was hard for me because I was always independent my whole life, you know, single parent of, you know, at 19 I, I wasn't going out like how my friends were. I was at, my mom didn't play that good. Point, point was I was at home. She was like, if you ain't working, I ain't watching your babies. So I didn't, you know what I mean?

[00:04:32] Jerrica Aiken: That's just, she held you accountable? She held me accountable. People didn't have no more kids until I got married, so, wow. I was, I was literally, it. It kept me on my P's and Q's. But literally after being a stay at home mom, then getting into real estate was definitely difficult. Because if I don't go to work, I don't eat.

[00:04:50] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah. It's not like if I go to work and you know, half do my job, or hey, sleep through a little bit of training, I still get paid. That didn't happen. Entrepreneurship, if I don't get up, I don't [00:05:00] eat. My kids don't eat. You know, things don't get done. 

[00:05:02] DJ And?: Mm-hmm. That is a strong point to make. Mm-hmm. Being able to be the person that is responsible for your economic creation.

[00:05:11] DJ And?: Mm-hmm. Now, in, in learning that and moving into that goal, like, could you explain some, a difficult time that you had in, in creating your business and making it so that you could be able to provide for yourself and your, 

[00:05:25] Jerrica Aiken: Loved ones? Definitely. Well, you know, now in my life right now, it was difficult, you know, because literally, I feel like as an entrepreneurship, I always had someone even in the beginning that I could depend on.

[00:05:37] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. Now it's just me. Mm-hmm. Just my income and five kids. Mm. So I literally have tooken everything dealt to me and made it work for my good. You know what I mean? You run into different, you know, customers and clients that really don't understand that. You know, they'd be like, I want you now, and then I'm at my kids' game.

[00:05:55] Jerrica Aiken: You know, those are difficulties as well when you're running into being an entrepreneur. But one [00:06:00] thing you have to do in the beginning, from the beginning is set your expectations. If you know, Hey, I'm not gonna work on this Saturday because my child has a recital or game, right? You need to say that, right?

[00:06:11] Jerrica Aiken: Don't put your clients before yourself and your family, because you'll continue to do it and you'll get burned out doing that. But if you set your expectations before, like now, My clients know my kids are gonna come first. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. They know I barely work on weekends. A lot of realtors work on weekends.

[00:06:27] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah. Yeah. I don't, if my clients are approved and their house hits the market real quick, we can run out on a weekend, but during the week is where you're gonna hit me. That 

[00:06:35] Ta-Myia: makes me think about that. Scripture Woman's 8 28 all come 

[00:06:39] Jerrica Aiken: together, work for the good. Praise the Lord, everybody. Yes. Yeah. I like that.

[00:06:44] Jerrica Aiken: Just when she said that, that just made me think of that. It came back to your mind. Yeah. 

[00:06:47] Mic: Dang. But once you set that boundary and you say that this is how it is, it's like your clients like respect that about you. They do. And, and, and this more that we talked about, it didn't get there, but, but mm-hmm.

[00:06:57] Mic: One of the things that you have as your [00:07:00] brand or your selling point is that you're just real and you talk to people. Exactly. Yeah. And that's something, that's something that our guests, it comes up on time. It does. Mm-hmm. People talk about as soon as they took the mask off and just were who they were.

[00:07:09] Mic: Bam, doors open. That's what makes it happen. 'cause that's what we trying to do. We trying to connect the people. Yes, 

[00:07:13] Jerrica Aiken: exactly right. Yes. And you don't learn that sometimes from the beginning, you know, coming into real estate or just being an entrepreneur. For me, at first it was about the check because I had to make money.

[00:07:23] Jerrica Aiken: I felt like this was my only option. Right. But when I took the money out of it mm-hmm. And I literally apply my faith and like, God, if you don't do it, it won't get done. Literally things were happening for me. It's not about money now. What I see is clients, I see a military family that came here and needs someone like me to help them.

[00:07:40] Jerrica Aiken: I see a married couple that just got married and wants someone to be real with them. 

[00:07:44] Mic: So you do doing it as a service and placing them in the right home. And then your company is already like predetermined. It's already done. Right. So you still get paid 

[00:07:52] Jerrica Aiken: for it. Exactly. Yeah. It is now just being able to be who Jericho was from the start.

[00:07:56] Jerrica Aiken: But in the beginning, like. Anybody, when you get entrepreneurship, you feel like [00:08:00] it's about that check and about that money. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, and you gotta realize that honestly, if that's where your mind frame is, you need to stay at your nine to five. You know, if you're not hardworking now, you are running late to work now, or go ahead, you're, you know, not listening to your boss.

[00:08:15] Jerrica Aiken: Now. It's best if you stay at work. Talk about 

[00:08:18] Ta-Myia: building a relationship with your customers, like a good rapport, customer service like, You seem like you're as a referral base, so obviously people enjoy your, the experience that you're experiences. 

[00:08:30] Jerrica Aiken: Listen, it is an experience. I love that because everyone tells me that.

[00:08:33] Jerrica Aiken: Honestly, when I first meet someone you come to my office, we sit down, we have a conversation, I. Sometimes you get, Hey, meet me at the house. The realtor is, I'm, no, we're gonna have a conversation. I may not be for you. I'm not for everybody. Okay, good point. You know, there are realtors that will just go with you, but I really wanna feel where you at.

[00:08:50] Jerrica Aiken: I want you to feel where you may not even like me. I may not even like you. Right. You know, we gotta just figure that out and make sure that we're vibing because this is the biggest purchase of your life that you're probably gonna make. [00:09:00] Right? Yeah. And I wanna make sure that you're comfortable with me.

[00:09:02] Jerrica Aiken: And I'm comfortable with you. You know, I, I pride myself of being honest. I pride myself of being relatable. Mm-hmm. So if those are things that you can get down with, then we're cool. If not, listen, I'll refer you to somebody and be happy with that, because that's what it's about. I like that. Do, do you, do 

[00:09:16] DJ And?: you normally have to turn down clients?

[00:09:18] DJ And?: Have you ever had to say, Hey, I'm not for you, but this is somebody that might do it better? 

[00:09:22] Jerrica Aiken: I've turned down and fired clients. Wow. 

[00:09:25] Mic: Firing clients. If you're gonna be self-employed, fire up clients or something, you gotta just come to terms with early. Yeah, 

[00:09:30] Jerrica Aiken: it's gonna happen. You have to, or it's gonna drain.

[00:09:33] Jerrica Aiken: It's gonna drain you if you allow clients, sometimes they do 

[00:09:36] Mic: and they want more than what they willing to pay for it and sometimes are they 

[00:09:40] DJ And?: demand, don't 

[00:09:41] Jerrica Aiken: demand. Right. And I feel like, especially as a, well, we're realtor, we don't get paid to the end of the deal. Right. That's 30 to 45 days after I met with you.

[00:09:50] Jerrica Aiken: Oh, okay. Mm-hmm. So all this work that I'm putting in is for free Wow. Pro bono until, 

[00:09:54] Mic: and then it's lump sum that you've gotta exactly manage and budget until the next 

[00:09:57] Jerrica Aiken: one, until the next. Some people are really just make so [00:10:00] much money. Hell no. We are a commission. We make it based on our work that we're putting in.

[00:10:05] Jerrica Aiken: So when I'm going to 50 houses and showing you 50 houses, I don't get paid for that gas money at great points. So you already see the end goal, but 

[00:10:12] Ta-Myia: you're like working towards that. We gotta 

[00:10:14] Jerrica Aiken: work there. Okay. You know what I mean? We gotta get under contract. Once we get out contract, it's 30 to 45 days from that, depending on the situation.

[00:10:20] Jerrica Aiken: Before I even touch a check. You see what I'm saying? So that's why you have to make sure you get with someone that loves what they do. Mm-hmm. That, that is, you know, about the people, because if it wasn't, you'll be, you'll just look like a check to somebody. Right. Because you're 

[00:10:32] DJ And?: right. They don't have any reason to be tied to you unless, yeah.

[00:10:35] DJ And?: You know, 

[00:10:36] Jerrica Aiken: they can leave at any time. So can you explain 

[00:10:38] Ta-Myia: the process of becoming a realtor? Yes. Because I know some people make it seem like it's so easy, or some people think it's so hard, so, tell us your journey on that part. Real y'all. It's hard. 

[00:10:47] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah. It's life threatening. Life threatening. No, all jokes aside.

[00:10:52] Jerrica Aiken: I feel like in South Carolina it's easy. You go to school, you take the exam, you pass the exam, you get in real estate. What's the lot time length on that [00:11:00] normally? Normally it, it can go as fast as you want it. You can be, it could be done in a year time. Okay. Year time. 

[00:11:05] Mic: So yeah. So we're talking about like, like an alternative to another tech degree kind thing.

[00:11:10] Mic: Certification could be 

[00:11:10] DJ And?: self-employed or 

[00:11:11] Jerrica Aiken: certification. You're right. Yeah. Right. You can, you can get it. But the thing is the test is difficult. I will tell you 

[00:11:17] Mic: that I've heard they usually always are heard test to get you a 

[00:11:20] DJ And?: certificate of to give 

[00:11:21] Jerrica Aiken: money. Right. And then when you fail, you go pay again. Get, then you have to play get, and that's where it gets you.

[00:11:27] Jerrica Aiken: Now the thing about real estate, a study in it, I think the questions on the real estate exam isn't like how, like what color is the dog? You know? Brown black. Yeah. Yeah. These is. Questions that all the answers are true, you have to pick the best one. Hmm 

[00:11:41] Mic: mm I see. 

[00:11:42] Jerrica Aiken: Oh, wow. So that ain't, ain't like the easiest test.

[00:11:45] Jerrica Aiken: I will say that, right? You, you gotta actually understand real estate, how it works. You have to understand real estate, how it works, and how you apply that to the people. And always remember in real estate, but definitely in the state of South Carolina, it's about the people. So the question has to make for sure that you are aware that you are [00:12:00] wrong.

[00:12:00] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah. And the people are right. Hmm. That's where customer service begins. You're 

[00:12:04] DJ And?: right. No, seriously that part. How how much does this cost to take this 

[00:12:09] Jerrica Aiken: test? Oh, so while it was definitely over a hundred dollars per test. Per test, but then you had to pay hundreds of dollars for the class. Right. And then you had to pay hundreds of dollars to get licensed in your state.

[00:12:21] Jerrica Aiken: That's what I was, so, so it's a lot of money to goes and then your 

[00:12:23] DJ And?: license has to be. Licensing's separate. Mm-hmm. You pay for that and then that licensing will all only allow you to work in the state of South Carolina. 

[00:12:29] Jerrica Aiken: Right. Okay. Now I refer, I work in, I'm over 49 states and I do six countries. Wow. How so I can refer out?

[00:12:38] Jerrica Aiken: I'm with really T one Group Coastal. They have a big franchise brand outta Los. Vegas that covers all these places. So we literally opened one in Italy last year, so I can also, I'm on the global chapter here in Charleston, which allows me to be able to sell and buy and help people in different countries.

[00:12:56] Jerrica Aiken: That's amazing. So I, yeah, I'm, I definitely enjoy what I [00:13:00] do. Why it doesn't stop here. So do you do commercial property 

[00:13:03] Ta-Myia: or like a 

[00:13:04] Jerrica Aiken: residential or both? Now with residential, I just do residential, but I can help you buy, sell, or invest. And I also, you know, do rental properties. And I refer all my commercial clients out.

[00:13:14] Jerrica Aiken: You gotta really choose what, like, which clients you really want to spend all your time with. And I know the type of person I am. I love family. I love. That guy that just got the military, he's a single person. He's ready to hit, he won his first bachelor pad. That's, that's what I want. Yep. But I will refer out, so I, I do have the capabilities to get you a great commercial agent.

[00:13:34] Jerrica Aiken: Oh, okay. Cool. Dope. 

[00:13:35] DJ And?: Dope, actually. Dope. Now in dealing with the, the residential side of real estate, Do you the market right now and the way that it is, does it, and it's a good question because I know since 2020 hitting the pandemic, were you doing realtor work before that time? 

[00:13:53] Jerrica Aiken: I had literally just got back into real estate as far as taking it seriously.

[00:13:58] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. And doing it as Okay. [00:14:00] Even at that time, it, the money that I was getting was just like, you know, Extra. It was like savings money. So it was during the time COVID. Oh my goodness. It was crazy because while y'all was, that's all I know. Yeah. You know, wearing masses, you know, the, the agents were. You know, not fearing for their life, but you know you.

[00:14:16] Jerrica Aiken: Right. But you interact with a lot people. Yeah. Interact with people. A lot of people. And that was definitely during the time that people were murdering realtors too. You know what? 

[00:14:23] Ta-Myia: I ain't never 

[00:14:23] DJ And?: heard of that. Wait, break this down for us. 

[00:14:25] Jerrica Aiken: What? Real estate's a hard job. Murder, 

[00:14:28] Mic: murdering people. Yeah. Just call somebody up and they go meet you in a house by themselves.

[00:14:32] DJ And?: Like there was nobody out. 

[00:14:34] Jerrica Aiken: They think people see real estate, like I said, as. We have all this money like celebrities do. So they get you to the house, rob you, and then kill you. Shut go. There was one right here in South Carolina. It was a guy. What Sheriff? I didn't know about. That vector turned dark. I did not hear.

[00:14:49] Jerrica Aiken: I did not know that that was going on. Yes, you better know. You better know. So, 

[00:14:53] DJ And?: All I was just about to ask you about the downturn in real real estate market during Covid. 

[00:14:58] Mic: I didn't know that they were [00:15:00] doing that. Do y'all also, 

[00:15:01] DJ And?: alright, so during this time, how did you protect yourself and at the same time keep your business moving through 

[00:15:06] Jerrica Aiken: the pandemic?

[00:15:06] Jerrica Aiken: Well, honestly, these are things that were happening during the time that I didn't, I wasn't doing real estate full-time. Okay, cool. So if really wasn't like a. Oh. You know, it affected me entirely. Yeah. But now those are things that I think about why I am in it full-time. But you just like anything else, you gotta protect yourself with, let somebody like that.

[00:15:22] Jerrica Aiken: Right? Yeah. Like, I meet my clients at the office. That's why, that's why, you know what I mean? I do things like that before even getting you in front of a house. Mm-hmm. So you have to be smart at the same time, like work smart, not hard. Dang. Yeah. 

[00:15:36] Ta-Myia: Mm-hmm. See somebody. Look. 

[00:15:37] DJ And?: That's how I'm looking still. Yeah, I'm still, that's kind of 

[00:15:40] Jerrica Aiken: dang shocking.

[00:15:40] Jerrica Aiken: I did not hear about that's, yeah. It's definitely something I feel like everyone should research. And if you know someone, if you have a loved one that's in real estate definitely, you know, check on them. There's a app that came out actually this month for us realtors and we're able to do background checks on the spot.

[00:15:55] Jerrica Aiken: So we literally can scan the driver's license now and get a background [00:16:00] check. So they're doing things to make sure that we're protected. I have an alert on my, when I go see a house, it's showing, it automatically goes straight to my dad if I don't answer or my son. Mm-hmm. So they have things that you have to put in place now that I really, you know, until I get that carried out, you know, when I'm carrying I'll, do I do whatever I need to.

[00:16:18] Jerrica Aiken: Right. 

[00:16:19] DJ And?: Yeah. So, alright. That made me feel a little better. Yeah. All right. Let me feel a little better. Good Lord. I didn't know the world was that dark. I know a little dark, but I ain't know it was that dark. 

[00:16:26] Mic: Learned something. I spent some crazy money times in real estate. This house right now. 

[00:16:30] DJ And?: Right?

[00:16:30] DJ And?: Doing well recently. 

[00:16:32] Jerrica Aiken: I have been doing well. I was a little nervous getting to real estate full-time and this being my only employment or income. Mm-hmm. But I'm definitely, it is been like hot out here. Mm-hmm. Like, it's been literally, I, like I said, referrals. The people that I worked with yesterday are refer, are referring me people that I worked with last year referring me my, my son's football.

[00:16:51] Jerrica Aiken: People are referring me like, you have to get out there and as long as you're out there and your face is out there, I, I do more than real estate. I'm in the community. I'm going to [00:17:00] firehouses at police stations, giving them thank, thanking you for what you do for us. See, that's the thing right there.

[00:17:05] Jerrica Aiken: Service and everything else. Appreciate. 

[00:17:07] Ta-Myia: Yeah. People appreciate that community service and I feel like a lot of people are missing that aspect right now. Mm-hmm. To help promote and grow their business. Like that's another form of marketing. Right. I 

[00:17:16] Jerrica Aiken: think we 

[00:17:16] Mic: forgot about it over Covid as it was like all, all of the outreach stuff that everybody was doing just kind of evaporated and then we come back and we.

[00:17:23] DJ And?: Yeah, we just 

[00:17:24] Mic: went back every man for themselves, 

[00:17:25] Jerrica Aiken: what we're doing everyday themselves to the community. That's, that's what it's about, you know? And even before Covid. Yeah. You know, I feel like people don't think about others more. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I feel like if you do, you don't know who your blessing.

[00:17:38] Jerrica Aiken: My thing is I'm, my blessing is through somebody else being blessed. Mm-hmm. So if you consider yourself as, you know, a faith believer or just, Hey, I'm, I'm purpose for this, then you should be doing things for others. Like if you, when you're in the star, I was in Starbucks the other day, I was like, Hey, I wanna pay for the person behind me.

[00:17:54] Jerrica Aiken: Like stuff like that. I didn't post it. What did you 

[00:17:56] Mic: mean? What you mean? I so good all 

[00:17:58] Jerrica Aiken: day they did that. [00:18:00] It made you feel good. 

[00:18:01] Mic: It was like we were both going to line at the same time. I was like, go ahead man. And then I get up there and he is like, yeah, I got you. And it was the same dad. I had a coffee in my hand and I was like, I had, I, 

[00:18:09] Jerrica Aiken: it makes you see, it makes you feel good.

[00:18:11] Jerrica Aiken: If we as people in general get back to doing stuff like that, we'll be okay. Being of service. 

[00:18:17] Ta-Myia: Yeah. How can you be of service to someone else? Yeah. Yeah. But that thing in makes me think of the, the moms spirit, so, you know. Going to our next question, being a mom is also considered a full-time job. Can you tell us what is the best part about being a mom for you?

[00:18:30] Jerrica Aiken: Woo. Lord Jesus, being a mom is rewarding. Mm-hmm. I feel like, honestly, when I see my kids secede, I secede dope. You know, when I see my son 15, get his awards, or even a teacher say, Hey, Joey did this. It makes me feel good. 'cause as a mom I'm instilling good stuff in this human. Mm-hmm. You know, I'm helping them to be a better person in society.

[00:18:53] Jerrica Aiken: Those things actually make me feel good when they come home and they be like, mom. The other day my oldest was like, mom, you know, I know we've been through a lot [00:19:00] lately, but I'm proud of you. I did. You cry?

[00:19:02] Jerrica Aiken: What you want know? Know what? No, those things make me feel good and continuing to do what I do as being a mompreneur in my podcast. All that goes into those little rewards. I don't need a check at the end of the day that's gonna be taken care of. God got me. I'm worried about the money bar, but what I do enjoy is the fact that I am rewarded by seeing my kids.

[00:19:24] Jerrica Aiken: Be successful. Do you teach them any 

[00:19:27] Ta-Myia: certain techniques about, you know, real estate, finance or anything like that that they should know? 

[00:19:31] Jerrica Aiken: All of the above. Okay. But I definitely, even if my kids decide not to get into real estate, like I told my others the other day, I still want you to have real estate.

[00:19:40] Jerrica Aiken: What I mean by that, whether we're investing a properties, buying land, all that. You don't have to sell houses like mom do it. Do investment properties your way. Okay. You know, and my goal is by 40 to have at least five investment properties for my children. Wow. Five investment properties. Five kids, they all get one.

[00:19:55] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Unfortunately. I lived during the time, my parents wasn't able to do that for [00:20:00] me. So I can't, I don't shut them down for that. 'cause now you look and be like, why my parents ain't gimme nothing. They ain't leave no legacy. They ain't, that looks like that. It wasn't, they, they couldn't, they didn't have.

[00:20:10] Jerrica Aiken: Now that I'm able to, and we as millennials, we can see exactly things differently than they could, unfortunately. That's just with the time that we're in. Yep. So being able to do that and be able to share that with my children is important to me that they understand that, hey, we gotta, we gotta make this work.

[00:20:25] Jerrica Aiken: We gotta go to work and get everything that's due to us now so that you guys can survive and live. 

[00:20:30] DJ And?: Dang. That's what I like to hear. That makes me happy. I like hearing stuff like that. Yeah. Oh, man. All right, so you actually host an event building women up. Mm-hmm. How do you cultivate and grow their audience and.

[00:20:45] DJ And?: What does look 

[00:20:46] Mic: like? Yeah. If we were to show up, what does it look 

[00:20:48] Jerrica Aiken: like? Well, some of y'all wouldn't be able to come. Woman's event. I feel special. 

[00:20:53] Ta-Myia: I feel 

[00:20:54] Jerrica Aiken: honored. Thank you. I'll be in the next one. Thank you. Thank you. But no, honestly, before we get [00:21:00] into that, let me just say something about women events and what I do for my events.

[00:21:04] Jerrica Aiken: Lately, this women empowerment thing has gotten so huge and everybody wants to do it. Everybody's doing events. And that's great, but if a woman leaves your event the same way she came, broken, disgusted, then you didn't do anything. Boy, woman empowerment is about building that woman up to be her best self, regardless of what she been through.

[00:21:25] Jerrica Aiken: Like people don't know I was sexually assaulted as a child. Mm. You wouldn't know that unless you know my story. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? So I always tell the woman that I preached to, that I ministered to, you don't know what that woman went through, what she had to get through to get to who she is today.

[00:21:39] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So when you look at someone, I'm be, oh, I wanna be her. You probably don't wanna experience what she went through. Right. You don't know what she had to do to get to who she had to be. Yep. So the woman empowerment event is just that woman empowerment. We're there to empower you regardless what stage you are in your life and help you get to that next step.

[00:21:56] Jerrica Aiken: You don't know what a woman is going through. So it's my job to help and see and [00:22:00] discern to see what can I do to help that woman be her best self. I love it. Yeah. Solid. Solid. 

[00:22:06] Ta-Myia: You got me. I'll be at the next one. Solid. So, 

[00:22:08] DJ And?: so now we can get to the boring part. So what does this event look like? Yeah.

[00:22:11] DJ And?: Selection, 

[00:22:13] Mic: top discussions, 

[00:22:13] DJ And?: round 

[00:22:14] Jerrica Aiken: tables, workshop, literal, literally everything. We have vendors at the event. Okay. We have speakers at the event. We have food at the event. Oh, we have testimonials. Breast cancer survivors, domestic survivors. Literally everything. Anything that you can imagine that you need for your role to recovery.

[00:22:32] Jerrica Aiken: Well, that means tools. Mm-hmm. So before you leave, there's tools you could take with you If you're in a bad situation, hey, you need a you're going through a divorce, or, Hey, you've been, felt like you've been in a bad situation domestically. There are people there that have tools that when you leave, don't leave without 'em, okay?

[00:22:47] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. Because in order to build you up, I gotta help you where you're at so that you can know where you're going. Yeah, man. So, so you meet people, meet them where they're at. I like that. I do. Yeah. 

[00:22:54] Mic: You got you. Yeah. That's the way. 

[00:22:56] DJ And?: So do I need to put a, I need to put on a disguise and come in? 

[00:22:59] Jerrica Aiken: I [00:23:00] would, I would probably escort you out.

[00:23:01] Jerrica Aiken: Dang, y'all probably be security or so just 

[00:23:03] Mic: like, why you looking like white chick? Just send your wife and get the cliff notes. Right? That part. 

[00:23:08] Ta-Myia: You know what y'all could do? Y'all could do marketing. I mean videography and photography, 

[00:23:12] DJ And?: you can assist because you know what? I could do that. I heard you say you had food.

[00:23:16] Mic: Yeah. Yeah. Kevin looked 

[00:23:18] DJ And?: at me like, what is this food? 

[00:23:19] Mic: What is the food? 

[00:23:20] Ta-Myia: Chicken? Small. 

[00:23:22] Jerrica Aiken: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Shrimp and grass. What do we have at the last one? You, Charles? She said she 

[00:23:26] DJ And?: from Charleston. Y'all. So the food's great. Oh my Lord. Okay, so for the women going to the event, we won't sneak in. Y'all actually, you actually provide them a and And is it a 

[00:23:35] Jerrica Aiken: all day event or It's like 12 to four.

[00:23:37] Jerrica Aiken: Okay. Oh, wow. 

[00:23:38] Ta-Myia: Now, do you have a whole team that helps you with this stuff or it's just you handling everything 

[00:23:42] Jerrica Aiken: from this and also entrepreneurs 

[00:23:44] Ta-Myia: and also being a real realtor? You have a team under you or 

[00:23:48] Jerrica Aiken: do you just handle Prior to now, Riga has done things by herself. I've had friends definitely that assist me.

[00:23:56] Jerrica Aiken: I appreciate literally I have to give Shimon a round off literally [00:24:00] every woman's event I've been at, she supports me. Deandre was at my very first one in 2017. So this year I have been starting to get a team together. I have a lot on my plate. A lot of businesses that I do run that I wanna make for sure that the women still get everything.

[00:24:15] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. I don't wanna miss anything, so having my other eyes and ears out there that can help me plan a nice event. Is what I wanna do. So how do you balance everything? Ooh, that's a good question. You know what? I, I, now it's so crazy. I'm gonna give you a little background. Okay? 'cause before I went to this seminar to talk about balance, I was like, oh yeah, I balance it this way.

[00:24:35] Jerrica Aiken: I balance it this way, I got it. But now, I don't balance, because when you balance, I have to try to put my kids over my career or my career over my kids. Now I just make it work. Oh, now I, I, or block off time blocking. Mm-hmm. I make sure whatever's needed gets done. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I make sure that my day is done before I pick my kids up for school.

[00:24:55] Jerrica Aiken: Okay. Those are things that I started doing to make sure, sure. I don't have to stress myself with balance. Mm-hmm. [00:25:00] Because I'm making it work. I have a, a schedule in place that know this is the time I'm doing real estate. This is the time that I'm with my kids. You know, and now I feel so much better.

[00:25:09] Jerrica Aiken: 'cause at first I was like feeling bad, like, Lord do I choose over going show this house so I can get the money sacrifice. Right, right. Or spend this time watching this, this movie the kid's been wanting to watch. Now I have so much peace 'cause I schedule everything. Mm-hmm. I time block and I make sure I get time for me and everybody knows.

[00:25:26] Jerrica Aiken: And everybody knows, don't call her on the weekend. Right? Don't do that. And after a certain time, my phone's on d and d, so, yep. There you go. 

[00:25:32] Mic: Yo, y'all. Technology. Technology. Yo. 

[00:25:35] DJ And?: So this phone on d and d is cool. I like this phone. You better do it. Wait, wait. So, so like when you're, and this is for your, like your professional, your business 

[00:25:44] Jerrica Aiken: phone.

[00:25:44] Jerrica Aiken: This is in general personal see 

[00:25:47] Mic: all. So you're on a drawing, so it's a little different. Yeah. iPhone. Don't be teasing nobody. We hit that button. We, it'll happen on the Mac. Mm-hmm. Like it's laptop. Turn this thing on pause as soon as I do this. Mm-hmm. And I can pre-program in. [00:26:00] People's 

[00:26:00] Jerrica Aiken: name that'll break through.

[00:26:01] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah. Like 

[00:26:02] Ta-Myia: your family member. My mom, she, I can text so that why anytime 

[00:26:05] DJ And?: That's I said because I'm like, I don't want put it on. And that's someone I'm need to talk to. No. And 

[00:26:08] Mic: text you. You gonna give them the option to like 

[00:26:11] DJ And?: do my life. 

[00:26:12] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. I'm sorry, I'm still on you having an Android. I'm just trying to figure out why he hasn't been saved yet.

[00:26:18] Jerrica Aiken: I 

[00:26:18] Mic: dunno. Well, no, the thing is this is this is, well this is. Yeah. So they can't explain Android. Android is genius for the ability to allow you to do whatever you want. Yep. Apple is genius for the ability to make the damn phone work every time they 

[00:26:30] DJ And?: plug and play and 

[00:26:32] Jerrica Aiken: it works with, all my products are Apple.

[00:26:34] Jerrica Aiken: So when my, when I'm at my phone, I don't, when I'm at my computer, I don't need my phone 'cause my, my computer goes off. And I answer it that way, or I'm on my watch like this is an Apple watch, like everything is apple. I don't need all my devices together. Then you could just airdrop if thing. If one thing goes out, airdrops airdrop it 

[00:26:51] Mic: over there.

[00:26:51] Mic: Android on the windows. 

[00:26:53] DJ And?: My mine cooks up to my laptop. 

[00:26:55] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah. 

[00:26:56] Mic: Long 

[00:26:57] Jerrica Aiken: do, they don't do the things, you're not selling that. But anyway, it [00:27:00] ain't selling. Ain't selling. What current projects do you have coming up or what can we see from you in the near future? Well, I haven't told anybody, but y'all feel like family, so I, maybe I'll tell y'all a little bit.

[00:27:10] Jerrica Aiken: Okay. So y'all know I do the coastal mompreneur available on all your streaming platforms. You got Apple, you got Spotify. Yep. You got Amazon. Literally the list goes on. Y'all make sure y'all check that out. I have a book. Dropping. Oh, yeah. That makes Alexa knows me by heart. Yeah. Check it out. Mm-hmm. So I have a book coming up.

[00:27:29] Jerrica Aiken: Wow. The Five Steps to Helping a Mom Balance Being a, a mom, an entrepreneur. This springtime, woo woo, I had my healing book coming out towards fall, winter. Woman aid, the guide's a healthy healing. So that's why I have so much stuff coming up. I gotta come back because there's just so much.

[00:27:45] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah, come back. There's just so much going on in my life right now. But literally, God has literally opened doors that I never thought would open for me. So I'm definitely excited for all the opportunities, but definitely follow me. Y'all can go to my Instagram, Facebook, all that good stuff to keep up with me so y'all can know what's going on.

[00:27:59] Jerrica Aiken: And [00:28:00] also to get an encouragement word. Sometimes we, as entrepreneurs, we go through so much. That we need someone to encourage us. Mm-hmm. You know, someone to help pat us on the back. Mm-hmm. You know, sometimes you get discouraged because you putting so much working in and you don't got nobody telling you, Hey, I'm doing a good job, you're doing a great job, or whatever have you.

[00:28:15] Jerrica Aiken: So look for me for that, and you can check out any of the things that I'm doing from them. 

[00:28:19] DJ And?: I gotta say this because I kept hearing this. It's always like this. It seems like faith is an important part in your life. Definitely, yeah. As you let our audience know about the importance of faith in your life before we sign out today, because I always think it's something that people are afraid to talk about, but when it has such a positive impact on your life and on certain folks' lives, I like to let them know, Hey, it's fine.

[00:28:42] DJ And?: You gotta get that feeling from 

[00:28:43] Jerrica Aiken: somewhere. Yeah. Come on. Yeah. I think my faith. Your faith has to be in you. It has to be a relationship that you have with the creator. Mm-hmm. It's not about a building. Mm-hmm. It's not about a group of people. Mm-hmm. It's not about a man or woman of God. Mm-hmm.

[00:28:59] Jerrica Aiken: It's about [00:29:00] my, my faith, my journey with the creator and what he has allowed me to do. The things that I have experienced in my life from childhood to now would have literally destroyed me. If I believe that my faith was just in someone or a, a building that I go to on Sundays, yeah. Just being able to know that my faith is bigger than that.

[00:29:20] Jerrica Aiken: Everything that I do, I give credit to God and my creator and the faith that I have that he's gonna make it work. I don't care what it looks like. I've been too good to people. I've been too good to the process. I am honest. I do my, my morals and my character play for me. Integrity. There you go. Yeah. I don't, I don't have to sit here and say this and say that people know me and they know my heart.

[00:29:42] Jerrica Aiken: So those things push me, but definitely my faith keeps me. Yeah. And that's what's important with entrepreneurship. You need something to keep you because it's hard out there. Mm-hmm. It gets difficult. There's, it is not always gonna be peaches and cream. You gonna have sour packs sometime? [00:30:00] Mm-hmm. 

[00:30:00] Mic: You have problems that you can't, you don't know how 

[00:30:02] Jerrica Aiken: to fix and there ain't no way to go tot and you won't be able to.

[00:30:04] Jerrica Aiken: And there's some situations you won't be able to fix and you gotta be okay with. That's, you gotta be able to know that. That's my problem. That's 

[00:30:12] DJ And?: the hard one. Oh man. Sometimes 

[00:30:14] Mic: you gotta bail and 

[00:30:14] Jerrica Aiken: regroup. Sucks. Personal so bad and not take things personal. That was me too, honey. But let me tell you that.

[00:30:21] Jerrica Aiken: You just gotta be like, I'm good because once I get in your spirit, it start messing with you. You know, it wasn't, and believe me or not, I started therapy last year and going to therapy, like people need to go to therapy and stop playing with therapy. It really will help you get through some of the, even being entrepreneurship.

[00:30:39] Jerrica Aiken: It helps me with balance. That's how I figured out with my time blocking and balance. Mm-hmm. Wow. 

[00:30:44] DJ And?: Therapy 

[00:30:44] Mic: ain't about talking about your problems. It's therapy is about getting tools. Right. Thank you, Mike. 

[00:30:48] DJ And?: Thank you. Say that again. 

[00:30:49] Mic: My wife's a therapist. I get this all. Shout out, shout out, shout, unplug. Plug it.

[00:30:54] DJ And?: Yeah, but that's a good point. It gives you tools and I can tell that you have those tools. That's why I asked you to [00:31:00] talk about your faith a little bit just so people can understand and hear that for our audience, because. I know growing up in this day and age, especially being millennial mm-hmm. Faith is something that a lot of people don't talk about on Front Street.

[00:31:10] DJ And?: They hide faith. Mm-hmm. Anything dealing with spirituality or, or religion or that idea, especially as at least, especially I understand the dogmatic reasons for leaving it away. Like, yeah, you don't talk about politics, you 

[00:31:21] Mic: don't talk about religion. Yeah. I nobody, I kicked out my own dad house talking about politics and religion.

[00:31:26] Mic: What hell 

[00:31:27] DJ And?: I.

[00:31:28] DJ And?: That's why it's just good hearing, hearing somebody talk about it and seeing the positive impact it has had on them. So I like to let the audience know, hey, there's still people out there. Faith does have a positive effect on you? I know it affected my life positively. Like my brother will tell you, man, without, without faith and being in certain areas growing up.

[00:31:44] DJ And?: Mm-hmm. We wouldn't be here looking like this or doing the things that we do. We've both been D boys on the side of the street selling them packs, letting them birds fly, getting chicken and onions moving. But we are not, no, y'all had to be open street. Ladies, come on. Say, you know, Mike knows my [00:32:00] father. We know we've been broken if we would've decided.

[00:32:03] Jerrica Aiken: And those are the people, believe it or not, that God wants to use the most. You know what I mean? Those are the people, honestly, that. Have a connection with him. Yes. Because it doesn't matter what you're doing. God don't care about that. Heck no. He cares about your heart. Mm-hmm. Exactly. If you are nasty and rude and you doing all these sinful things, God gonna look at you crazy.

[00:32:22] Jerrica Aiken: But it is literally. I know. I know plenty of these boys out there. Yeah. That do. Right. That. Make sure that the kids in the community are good and stuff like that. Yeah. Oh yeah. 

[00:32:31] DJ And?: Yep. We know all they, we 

[00:32:33] Mic: know all them. One you told me they ba us. 

[00:32:35] Jerrica Aiken: Yeah, they good. They good. It is all about heart, what your heart is and literally God can forgive anything.

[00:32:41] Jerrica Aiken: So definitely. How 

[00:32:42] Ta-Myia: can people find you 

[00:32:44] Jerrica Aiken: on social media? Like break down how like people find everything? Where do I find you? Jeer, l Aiken is really my main page. You can find everything there. My real estate, everything, the coastal Mompreneur is my podcast. The social manager is another business I just started with [00:33:00] managing people's social media.

[00:33:01] Jerrica Aiken: Oh, nice. You guys can definitely a lot of money out there for that right now. Listen, it is. It really is. So y'all could check that out, but definitely I'm on everywhere. TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook. I really do love social media. Can you do the dances? Listen, I do the dances. Yes. 

[00:33:14] Ta-Myia: Yeah. Triple threat.

[00:33:16] Ta-Myia: I like it. See 

[00:33:16] Jerrica Aiken: you do the dance. This was a great episode. Yeah. Thank you guys for the opportunity. Like listen, y'all doing some good stuff. So you know, appreciate what you guys do for entrepreneurs and you don't get enough credit when you are putting people's on platforms, especially what you guys are doing behind the scenes.

[00:33:32] Jerrica Aiken: Mm-hmm. So I'm definitely appreciate that. Yeah. Thank you for joining us today. Speaking away. Shout out to 

[00:33:36] Ta-Myia: Silent 

[00:33:36] Mic: Kev over there. Yes. Producer, you taking the photos and videos 

[00:33:39] Jerrica Aiken: and setting all the things up for, for us. Amazing. He does the editing on my podcast. And I gotta add to when Jerich was saying, y'all gotta check out Cole Entrepreneurs is 

[00:33:47] DJ And?: amazing.

[00:33:47] Jerrica Aiken: One of the things about being a contact creator, especially behind the scenes by being an editor, 

[00:33:51] DJ And?: is we're the first to get to listen to all the ethics. 

[00:33:54] Jerrica Aiken: Oh yeah, yeah. Whatever a project we're working on and just from just listening to some of the perspectives of [00:34:00] the different guests that have come on. I heard podcast.

[00:34:02] Jerrica Aiken: I know you're on episode 10 right now. That's the one. And like all of them, you can pull something out of them. You can pull something. It is doesn't, it is not like, I know, like I said, it's called Coastal entrepreneur, but there's things I can take out of it just as a man, just being able to hear different 

[00:34:15] DJ And?: perspectives and things.

[00:34:16] DJ And?: Well, 

[00:34:17] Mic: we doing a whole lot of parenting in our lives as, as well. That work life balance ain't quite what it used to be because I be making dinner and changing diapers and shit to 

[00:34:25] Jerrica Aiken: who? It robbo to you because some people don't do that. 

[00:34:28] DJ And?: There's one episode you gotta check as the doula episode. So I love that episode so much.

[00:34:31] DJ And?: The DO 

[00:34:32] Jerrica Aiken: episode. Oh, the doula? Yes. Yes. She's a doula. That's 

[00:34:36] Mic: awesome. Oh, yeah. We gotta check that out. Yeah, we, my son was born at the house. I was the, I was the doula dad. Oh, wow. We had a proper midwife, but I was the baby catcher in the pool. 

[00:34:43] Jerrica Aiken: That's amazing. 

[00:34:45] Ta-Myia: Did y'all know that? No. 

[00:34:46] DJ And?: Oh. Didn't 

[00:34:47] Mic: before. We had been talking about doing a Mother's Day episode with that for a while, but yeah, it just hadn't happened yet.

[00:34:51] Mic: That's awesome. Monday it'll 

[00:34:52] Jerrica Aiken: get out. Yeah. Yeah. That's real good. Well had 

[00:34:55] DJ And?: the baby now. This man, y'all so dope. 20 hours of fun. I appreciate everybody here. Thank you so much. [00:35:00] I appreci appreciate you went for the flub earlier. Listen, thank you for, for finishing it. Finishing this. This was strong. 

[00:35:05] Jerrica Aiken: Was real good.

[00:35:06] Jerrica Aiken: Listen, even though the coastal entrepreneur just started, I literally, I'm over 500 downloads in six months, so I'm definitely thankful for what's to come. And I appreciate you guys and I'm glad we were able to connect. 

[00:35:19] DJ And?: Excellent. Well, we're gonna sign off for our episode today with the Hilltop Glove Podcast.

[00:35:24] DJ And?: I'm DJ Ann. What? I'm joined by Tamaya. What up Mike? Peace. Peace. Skip you. Of course. Our steam guest Jeer Al Aiken. Why don't I call you 

[00:35:34] Jerrica Aiken: Alan, 

[00:35:34] Ta-Myia: because that's my last 

[00:35:35] Jerrica Aiken: name. I know. Yeah, yeah, 

[00:35:36] DJ And?: yeah, yeah, yeah. Miss Je Aiken, thank you so much for joining us today. We just want to let all of our guests and our audience, everybody who's listening to us, know tell somebody out there that you love 'em especially folks that are nearby you.

[00:35:47] DJ And?: Make sure that they know that you care and that you're here. Check on 'em. Make sure that they're doing well mentally and physically. Other than that, everybody have a great Saturday. Be peaceful out there. We'll see you next time. Bye 

[00:35:55] Mic: bye bye.