Brenton (and his parents') Money Story

Brenton: [00:00:00] Hello, this is Brenton Harrison, host of New Money, New Problems podcast. I wanna welcome you guys in to an episode that I'm hoping will be really cool. I wanna make sure that we have these stories where we give some context for why we spend the way we spend. Why we are the way we are and why we do the things we do with money. So, if I'm gonna be authentic, I need to start with giving you a bit from whence I came. Which is why I asked my parents to join me for this session, to give a little background about their lives. And maybe I'll do a replay or response episode so I can tell you what they were truthful about and what I disagree with. Thank you guys for joining the New Money New Problems podcast . All right. I wanna start from the beginning. If you all could introduce yourselves beyond mommy and Daddy and tell us your names. Tell us a little bit about your background. Tell us about your parents, like, just tell us about your childhood. Donna: My name is Donna Harrison. I [00:01:00] am from Memphis, Tennessee. My father is from Memphis, born and raised in Memphis except for college when he came to Tennessee State. My mother is from Belize in Central America, and she lived there until her teenage years when she came to the United States, which is a long story Brenton: How did she come in terms of... was it a long process? Was it a legal process? How did she come? Donna: It was not a long process. It was not a legal process. She actually, came up through Guatemala into Mexico in really kind of in a dangerous way, risking her life. And she was blessed when she got to the border of Mexico and the United States in that she met a family from Houston, a young black family, that had three small children with them. And they actually were [00:02:00] vacationing in Mexico and for some reason they decided to bless my mother by bringing her across the border with them when they were coming home from their vacation in the car. And she was able to successfully cross the border with this family and actually live with them for the first few years when she came into United States and was able to get on her feet and stayed with them until she met my father. And married my father and moved away. Okay My dad was a lifelong educator in Memphis, worked for the Memphis public city school systems, but right out of college he was in the Air Force. And he was stationed at one point in the Galveston area, and at that point that's where in you know, as soldiers do, they were out for an evening and in one of those evenings he met my mother. Okay. Yeah. Duane: My father was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica, and [00:03:00] he came to the United States with seven friends, and they first came to Florida. They all took a job working on a sugar cane plantation in Jamaica. He was a tailor and a teacher. He came, worked on the sugar cane plantation, and they migrated from there to Fox Lake, Illinois. They all got jobs at the Green Giant Cannery, and someone informed them that International Harvester was opening up a plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So all eight of them went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and got jobs at International Harvester. And that was what he did until he retired. My mother was from Versailles, Kentucky. [00:04:00] Her mother, my grandmother, I'm not sure what she did, but her father was a Pullman on the railroad. And and was very successful. He was lead Pullman on most of the trains that he worked on. She went to nursing school at Meharry in their first nursing class. Left there, went to Michigan where her sister was teaching school. And at a camp meeting she met my father, who had come from Milwaukee to Michigan for the camp meeting, and that was how they met. Brenton: Daddy, you have, not that mommy you don't have siblings, but you have a brother and a sister, uh one of whom is my Duane: namesake. Correct. My brother was 15 months older than me, and my sister was 13 years [00:05:00] older. And at the age of 12 we were told he was only going to live to be 20 because he had sickle cell anemia. So, at the age of 12 and 13, we believed that we only had seven more years together. Our relationship became tighter in one respect, that I wanted to have him with me as long as I could. And in another respect, it diverged because he felt that this was the worst curse in the world to tell a 13-year-old that he would only live to be 20. And at, at that point in our lives, it was a constant me pulling after him and him deciding, 'I'm gonna do whatever I want to do because I've only got seven more years', and become a hell raiser. He lived to be [00:06:00] 42 and our relationship was such that I wanted him more with me. And when he came, he had a nephew and that was you. You all's bond was almost a lot like my grandson and mine. He would come and he would play and you all would scream and yell in the basement. And then he would teach you things that I didn't know he was teaching you. And he would give you perspectives that were different than mine. But when I knew I was having a son, I had no other name that I wanted you named other than his. And I gave you his name and gave you my name as your middle name. Brenton: Mommy, you grew up in Memphis. And you know I've been going to that neighborhood, even though you didn't grow up in that neighborhood your whole life, and since I was a kid, everybody who [00:07:00] lived there had lived there for years. Everybody knew everybody. Everybody was in a similar situation it seemed financially. So, I could see there being a delay in you realizing the differences between money and what it could do and not do, cuz everybody was in a similar situation. So, when was the first time that you realized, or became aware of the power of money or the differences that money contribute to? Donna: Yeah, I will admit we moved into the neighborhood about the time everybody was moving into the, to the neighborhood, all young black families. Just looking for home ownership, the opportunity of home ownership. And most of the kids were around the same age. And so, I don't remember, you know, needing anything or really wanting anything that wasn't available. It was just a, a strong, strong community. I don't remember [00:08:00] when it, the Light Bulb actually turned on. But I think it was probably really more close to the time when it was higher education. I wanted to go to a small Christian college, an Adventist College, which cost. There were not a lot of scholarships available for private institutions at that time. And I just remember the back and forth with my parents because there were many scholarships that I had the opportunity to have if I had decided to go to a Tennessee State or some of the other colleges that had offered me scholarships. And so there was a little discussion in my family as to why we were having to struggle to pay tuition when I could probably go someplace and not have to pay for college. And so that's probably when the light bulb came turned on for me. Brenton: Me. You mentioned that Granny is from Belize and she was a conduit for a whole lot of [00:09:00] other Belizean family members to get to the States. So, The house in Memphis is, you say about A thousand square feet? A thousand would probably be a stretch. Yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. So, you have three siblings. At any given point in time, how many other family members would be in the house in terms of cousins or aunts that would come over from Belize? Donna: As long as I can remember, there was always somebody in the house from the time that I was born until long after I was an adult and moved away. But the largest amount that I can remember was at one point when I had three cousins in the house with us. So, there were three cousins, four of us. And then my two parents in a three bedroom, very small house with how many bathrooms? One bathroom. Brenton: All right. Daddy, so you were raised by a big community, yes? And got to experience more than just one family when it came to finances. When you were in Detroit, [00:10:00] you were with Aunt Dee and Uncle Bernard. So if you could tell me a little bit about them in terms of what they did you know, specifically. Duane: Aunt Dee taught school. First, second and third grade for 44 years. Uncle Bernard worked for Ford glass Company. They managed money together. In my own home, my mother made more than my father as a nurse, and I didn't learn until later that it was the source of some of the difficulty between the way they managed money. I grew up realizing that my mother's biggest cry was if we would, if he would just put his money with mine we could do so much more together. And I was older when I learned that part of the reason [00:11:00] didn't bring his money and put it with my mother's were twofold. One, he didn't want to face the fact that she made more than him. Two, he didn't want to lose what he would call control. Brenton: So, you all meet at Oakwood, you get married. mommy you did nursing. So, you were finished in two years. Daddy, you come down to Meharry and go to Meharry. When was the first time you all can remember money being a conversation in terms of how you all deal with it as a couple? Donna: I think that it was, it was probably out of conflict that you know, some of the money decisions were made or, our money philosophy was developed. I am a person who has a greater need for security in having liquidity. Brenton: Where do you think that comes from? Donna: Well, I'm sure it comes from seeing money [00:12:00] emergencies when I would grow up and seeing, you know, my parents trying to figure out, you know, because you have four children and you have extras in the house, and so, if, if there was an emergency, then you had to figure it out. And I don't like emergencies. I don't like, the feeling of needing to figure it out, so I would rather have the security of having something there put aside for those emergencies. Duane: I, I think that several things got in the way. At the age of 12, I had an uncle, play uncle, one of my dad's eight friends who came to the house. And Uncle Jimmy said, 'You want to come with me on Tuesday and Thursday nights for two hours and make $25?' And I couldn't believe that my parents would let me go out and make money on a school night. But I would go with Uncle Jimmy and sweep up the floor of a garment factory in Milwaukee, and I'd make $25 a night. That's $50 a week [00:13:00] for a 12-year-old kid. In the summertime at the age of 13, Uncle Jimmy asked me 'Do you wanna work with a construction crew with me?' And I said, Yes, sir. And I was paid out of a safe because it wasn't legit for a 13-year-old, no matter how big, to work. And from that time on, I had two and three jobs. A summer. Every summer I had that kind of money. My parents never bothered me about that money. They asked me would I pay, tithe and offering, but they never said what to do with it. And I developed a habit of, if I want something, I work for it. And if I work for it, you can't tell me what to do with it because I worked for it. And if you tell me, it's not enough, I'll go work more. And that was what I brought into our relationship. One, I wanted to make sure that we put our money together. I didn't want to be like my father. And two, I wanted to do whatever I wanted to, [00:14:00] and I had to learn a lesson. And the lesson was, you don't have to work more. If you just manage what you have, you can still find a way to do. And it was the control of working more that I, I resisted. Although mommy says, you know, things that would come up would, would cause us to realize our differences. The first thing that I remember was, 'we don't have the money'. And I couldn't go and work because I was in school for, for medicine. So, I would say, Okay, and, and my parents would give us money and, and mommy would work. But there was always a good deal that mommy found. And I'd come in and there'd be something I like. 'Do you like that? It was on sale'. And it was always something for the house. It was never anything for her. But I would question, [00:15:00] 'if we don't have any money, we don't have any money, or put the money on the table and let's decide what it is we're gonna do with it.' And, and that was the initial aspect of how we began to realize our differences. My friends had a joke that they would say, Oh, Dwayne wants something. Oh, he's just gonna work another hour. He's just gonna get another contract and go to the hospitals and, and that's how he does it. And mommy would constantly be at home saying, What we need to do manage what we have. Brenton: And then get something for the house. I bring up the house. I bring up the house because you guys had a unique path to initial home ownership. Share with me how you got the money to buy your first home. Duane: We, at, at the time we were married, I had a friend who I worked with and painted with in my younger years in [00:16:00] Milwaukee. And they offered to buy us, they offered to renovate anything we bought and just charge us for materials. And I wanted to do that, and mommy needed the security of an apartment. Something that's taken care of. So, we rented the first four years of our marriage. And mommy decided that if we're staying in Nashville, I do want a home. Well, we didn't have a home or down payment. And I told my parents what we were trying to do. And my father had an accident. He was struck by a garbage truck in Milwaukee. Was in the hospital and he got a settlement. And the settlement came through and it was $7,500. And he sat down at the table, looked at my mother and asked, are The children trying to buy a house? And she said yes, so he said 'here, give it to them'. And that was how we got the down payment. Brenton: So [00:17:00] all it took was your dad getting hit by a dump truck. Duane: I love your perspective. Brenton: You talked about working more. And I mentioned medicine, but we have not gotten into what each of you do. So first, if you could share what it is that you do and, and how you made your money up until recently as an entrepreneur. And then after you share, mommy, I'd like for you to share what you used to do and what you do now. Duane: I came out of residency and worked in an emergency room for approximately a year before my hospital administrator said, in your role as medical director of this emergency room, You have brought in a significant number of people outside of the company you work for. They're friends of yours. We'd like you to take the contract and [00:18:00] staff it for us. And I got a contract with the hospital in which I could determine my profit margin in the negotiation. And I did that and. several physicians who helped me get started. Brenton: Well, let's, let's go back a second. So, you're now no longer an employee you're a business owner. Yes. And you're providing physicians to the hospital? Yes How are you determining your profit margin? What does that look like Is it just you, you pay us 300, I pay my guys and girls to 50. Is I, How Duane: does that work? Well, we, you look at the average rate, hourly rate for physicians in the emergency room and you look at what it costs for their insurance, for their continuing education, for holiday pay for incentives on busy days or nights high acuity patients, and you put all of that into an hourly rate and you [00:19:00] determine a percentage of profit It was always easy for me as a fair minded person because most of my business acumen didn't come in any classroom. It was what is the right thing to do and what is the fair thing So I would look at my hospital administrator and I would say the owners of this hospital have asked you to have a budget that requires what percent profit. And my first contract, it was a 18% profit And I ask, was that okay for me to do the same thing. And they, the attorney and the administrator said, that would be perfectly fine. And that was how I set my profit margin Now, in those days when I got started, you worked, they paid you that hourly and as an owner, they paid you the entire hourly rate profit margin and your, fees for your or expenses for your physicians. And you could walk away from a contract knowing [00:20:00] that if. Keep to my budget. Here's my profit margin for that year. Within nine months I had a second contract. Within two years I had three contracts and up until that third contract, that was. The third contract, it was, you need to learn to bill for your services and what you bill for. Your services need to take care of your expenses but we are not going to subsidize at all. At that point, I developed a billing company and I needed help with a billing company just before we took that contract and I found a company that was going outta and I. Grabbed their manager and their lead coder, and I started another company. The third company was a scribe company because the government mandated that all medical [00:21:00] patients should have electronic health records. And trying to develop an electronic health record in an emergency room setting was difficult. So, I just developed the scribe where the records could be kept for us computer while we did the work in the emergency those were the three I had, So you had Brenton: three contracts. You had friends that I know and grew up with their children were in those contracts with you. You had a medical billing company and that me medical billing company was the first place where I worked, I think starting at 12 or 13. I would go for four hours a day and work in the summers. Duane: Actually, I had seven contracts. Brenton: Okay. Seven contracts. And then Uncle Brenton worked at the billing company. So family working for you with you? April. George, everybody. So, everybody in the family in some way or another is, [00:22:00] is connected. a thread we'll come back Mommy, if you could share you did two years for nursing but you work now, but you're not a nurse now, so if you could explain what you do. Sure. Donna: I worked after we married for several years at Vanderbilt. But then I had Jennifer and then I had, you We decided after you were born that I would just come home. And so, I actually stayed out of the workforce until you were 15, maybe 16. I decided that, okay, maybe I can do something you know, that, you know, in the workforce again. And at that time daddy encouraged me actually to consider real estate. And I did. And when I did it, I enjoyed it enough to, I think I remember asking him if he minded if I would give it a shot full time. So, I did. Twenty years ago Brenton: I've seen you work Way past 40 hours as you built that. How many hours a week would you say you work now, [00:23:00] Donna: Well, I worked hard and long at the beginning, Brenton: and there's a reason for this question. I'm not just digging at you. Donna: I mean, and it, it ebbs, it ebbs and flows Yeah. With, with the market. So right now, it's really light. So, I, you know, I, usually, can do a couple of hours a day to take care of everything that I need to take care of, and that's Brenton: it. And on a given year, what multiple of what. you might make on the schedule of what you were working as a nurse, like, Oh, Donna: I mean, I can't even remember what I made as a nurse, but it was a much larger, So more than that. Pretty Brenton: large. Oh, absolutely, definitely. It's more than double So you are working probably a fourth of the time. and making double what you would've been making sure. How do you think you have been able to build that level of reputation that would allow you to Donna: Well, [00:24:00] at the beginning, like I said, it was working long and hard. It was building up a sphere of influence of people who trusted me, who would refer you know, clients to me who became repeat client, repeated clients. So, you know, it, it was truly just d doing what you say you're gonna do, working hard to on, on, on people's behalf to give them the best, to always have their interest first, as opposed to what I'm gonna get at the end of this, this deal. And, and enjoying doing that. So, you know, just enjoying the interaction, enjoying connecting with people and building a book of business so that now, you know, I'm servicing people's children their grandchildren their second, third, and sometimes fourth homes. And so, Yeah, that's what I've been, how I've been able to Brenton: do it. We talked about Belize and Jamaica and cousins and siblings and extended [00:25:00] family because for, for most of you all's married life, there has have been family members that you've supported and Some way or often, consistently. you all recall there was a presentation I did where I asked how much support was being given or had been and. we totaled up the number of cars that you had purchased or given away to family members, and it was 12 We totaled up the number of people that you had helped. And on a monthly basis at that it averaged out to about $2,500 a month of assistance. Does that sound about right? $30,000 a year on the low end. On the low end. Mm-hmm. You're giving 10% of your payback to God, you are helping people at, on the low end, $30,000 a You are not getting the sales [00:26:00] from resources of reselling and things of that nature. That is a significant commitment to family. Where do you think that comes Donna: was absolutely modeled for us for me. Mm-hmm. And I'm sure daddy would say the same thing. You know, I can say it not just on my mother's side, but I can start with my mother's side There was always a way. That they found to help someone were cousins that needed to come over to the country and you know, they come for school and they wanted to experience the same things we experienced the programs, the clubs, the trips and things that my parents provided for us. You know, before my cousins, it was my mom's younger sisters that would come and live with us until they could afford to find a place of their own and a full-time job and things like that. I can remember my dad is the youngest of all of his siblings. But I can remember he had a couple of brothers with children that, [00:27:00] you know, When things needed to be done you know, in high school or important events where they needed extra funds and things like that. You know, I you realize later, you know cuz it was done without them saying I'm given, but I realized later that my dad was the one that paid for this and my dad was the one that paid for that. And to this day, you know, my mother, she's still models. If you need help, I'm gonna figure out Duane: it. we hadn't talked about it, but my dad was pretty much the same way as her mom in the fact that from a young age, we always knew that there was $10,000 in the bank. Because to sponsor someone. In those days from Jamaica, you had to have resources in the bank and you had to have a guarantee that they would have a place to live and a place to work. His philosophy was I'm gonna sponsor as many people as want to come. And between him and his brother [00:28:00] in New York a lot of West Indians came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Brooklyn, New York because of Woodcliff and Baldwin Harrison. Brenton: You know, I bring up the amount of support and you all still work. You're still productive. Some of that's cuz you enjoy what you do, but some of that is the cost of an amount of money you've given away that if you had kept half for yourself, you probably could have stopped working 15 years It's one thing to say it on the front end. I'm okay doing with less. Now. You all are somewhere in your and still blessed and healthy and doing well. How do you feel about having seen through that promise of I'm okay if I gotta do a little more, if it means everybody else gets a little more. How do you feel about Donna: still the same. I we still enjoy a standard of living, I [00:29:00] think is one that I could never have imagined. And I don't believe that we've wanted for anything. And it's been a joy to be able to provide. Security a leg up. Help when somebody's in a crunch and all the things we've been able to provide along the, you know, through the years to friends and family. So, I, I wouldn't have it any other way Nothing Duane: has I agree 100%. I never had an idea of what it was that I wanted my life to look like. I never went into it with I'm gonna get this and I'm gonna get that and oes when I make x. As So for me I do think that we have been, been blessed in so many ways that I don't have regrets. I enjoy what I do, and I enjoy solving problems. I enjoy, I believe I was put here on this [00:30:00] earth to be a And I enjoy emergency medicine. Well, let's Brenton: let's, let's talk about some of, cause we've, we've now learned a lot about each of you. I know you don't regret helping in terms of what you knew about money, how you managed money, what you know now. Do you have any regrets in that? And if so, what are they? Donna: I believe that there is an understanding money works now, that we had to learn the hard I believe that even with all the giving expenses and I think that had we known had just been more literate financially in our early years there, there's so much more that we could have done and would've been able to do so. Yeah, I believe, I regret that I didn't have the [00:31:00] opportunity to become financially literate, you know, before. Before we became wage earners. Brenton: Daddy, the question was posed. Are there any regrets that you have in terms of how you managed Duane: I think that the regret for me is that had I known what my son knows, I could have done so much more. But I do believe that part of the problem for me was that 12-year-old boy who no one ever touched when he went out and made money. And I think that that 12-year-old guy damaged. the 22 year old that started in medicine and didn't help him to realize with a little planning, you can probably do a lot more than you [00:32:00] can even imagine. Brenton: What if you had to guess based on the children that you raised and what you see us doing now? Two entrepreneurs from two entrepreneurs. Both very stubborn. What, what do you think were the best parts that we pick? Donna: A strong work ethic. I can do it. You know, this, this is what I, what I want to do and I'm gonna figure out a way to do it. . And also, I think that you both got a spirit of benevolence and, you know, I'm, I'm never gonna want, or I'm never gonna miss it if I'm, you know, sincere in, in helping to meet a need of a, of someone that I love that that needs something. So those two things I think I like and I'm very Duane: proud work ethic I agree with. And that was, The only goal that I had when you were growing up, that you would have a [00:33:00] work ethic, educate you and give you a work ethic. And I always believed that the rest would take care of itself. The other thing I tried to, to make sure was you both developed the ability to question the status quo, and you both question the status quo. there is no, this is the only way and Two children, one just like me, one like his mother. And, and, and for, for me I, I think it was an excellent mix and I think you all. Exceeded in all aspects. Absolutely What we could have thought was, was going to be now if you caught us at 1415. Brenton: All right, so next question. So, what are the things that you see a struggle with, that you identify with? What are the things that you wish we probably didn't Donna: for you, The high, high need [00:34:00] for security. The need to make sure that whatever you have in the forecast that needs to be taken care of. You see a way. For it to be taken care of. So I think that I, the times when I pray for you are the times when I see you worrying, because now I've lived long enough to realize that it's gonna be taken care of. But it's hard to now, because you've seen that in me turn around and look and see you when you worry about how it's gonna fall, how all the apples are gonna fall, how it's gonna work out to tell you it's gonna be okay. Gotcha Brenton: What about your second favorite job? Donna: My favorite daughter trying to, trying to figure it all out and not really, I think, and I can only speak for the things from me, you know, daddy probably sees some of, a lot of her in him, but I, but for me financial literacy and any [00:35:00] other thing that I've gotten, I, I would rather go and find it myself than to tell someone, Oh, I need help. Can you help show me what you've done? Can you help me with this? And sometimes you'll learn it takes longer to learn. It's harder to learn and figure it out when you don't look for those resources outside of Duane: yourself. I be I, I think the same thing. The calls that I make to you come when I know that you are that your environment is such that is going to cause you to worry. Those are the things that I know enough about from living with your mother. I can talk with, you know, when you're stressed and know why you're stressed. And not with your sister, it is like looking in a mirror. The ability to say, I'm fine. She parrots her father. Because I didn't grow up [00:36:00] with the ability to tell you much less stop and say that everything's not fine. here's, here's why. Brenton: When I'm operating at my worst, the part of me that is daddy is, I very much believe I can work myself out of I'll go earn more. And there are times when I will work my way out of debt or work my way out of a hole, not based off of my initial thought being could you have managed that debt better on the front end, But the constant belief that I can out earn. And that can definitely come back to bite me. The you mommy is, if I owe anybody if I owe anybody, I, I cannot go to sleep. But on the positive side to me, I, I may want to cap on how much I give, even some of [00:37:00] that dips into my ability to out earn if I, even if it's not the greatest time for me, a cousin or a family member, Might benefit from $50. I may have 52 but to me that, that is a mindset that I know that I got from each of you that I'm very proud And then also in terms of, Cause I brought up you having two entrepreneurs. To me, one of the biggest things I learned from each of you and it's, it's so funny cuz it came at different phases. I was a kid Mommy, while you were at home, it was seeing daddy and knowing that he worked more than any person's parents I knew who were in if you're listening to this podcast and you know me and know my uncle Robert, that might be the only person I know who was like, Oh, well there's probably one person out there who might be working ass hard or harder, But in spite of all that, I honestly cannot recall an event that either of us had where Daddy [00:38:00] and to me it wasn't even just the fact that he would work that hard and come, it was the fact that because he worked for himself, he could find a way to get there, And mommy, later on in my childhood, it was seeing, oh, my goodness, she literally picked this up when I was a teenager and in less than 10 years is making double what she would've been and that even played a role, cuz this is from both of you in terms of like, there are so many ways to make money in this world if you go about it the right way And I know that those are lessons that both of us picked up from you because I don't think that both of us would have ventured into entrepreneurship without having that ability modeled, and that's something that I know many So I appreciate you for the [00:39:00] conversation. I appreciate you for being co-hosts on the first version of My Money Stories. I wanted to make sure you all had my origin story and my sister's origin story, and even my grandmother and grandparents’ origin stories. So, thank you for joining us on the New Money New Problems podcast Duane: You’re welcome.