Monthly Archives: November 2015

Real Time With Caitlyn Jenner

As I sit in The Four Seasons (an Amy V Fave) in St. Louis and order a drink, I try to unwind and decompress the day. I try to remember all that I did and accomplished. From leaving my son for the next few days, the flight, hair and make up, to my TV hosting gig. I look around the room and see that besides me there is only one other table of people. I notice a very familiar face and for a few seconds I actually thought I spotted an old friend… until I realized it was CAITLYN JENNER and her badass posse of fearless friends! I truly believe in never holding back a compliment. If you admire someone, respect them, or are inspired by them, TELL THEM! Putting good energy in this world with positive intention is always a good idea.

 

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Amy V Quote

 

 

Immediately I decide to send Cait and her friends (all of whom I feel like I know from watching “I Am Cait” on E!)  a bottle of champagne! I wanted to make a bold move, sharing my support – as you all know I’m a big fan of risk and reinvention!

 

 

After the champagne was delivered, a man in her group stood up and came over to my table. After I convinced him that I was not with TMZ, he thanked me for the champagne and went over to Cait. Then Cait turned around, smiled at me, and motioned for me to join them.

 

 

DYING.

 

 

I approach the table and am warmly welcomed to the table. Chandi was the delightful spirited gem we have seen on TV, and she immediately jumped up and hugged me.  Cait, Chandi Moore, Kip Zachary, Candis Cayne, Kate Bornstein and Ella Giselle are all there.

 

 

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Caitlyn Jenner and friends on “I Am Cait.”Credit E!

 

 

We start chatting about why we are all in St. Louis and they explain that they are filming Trans America, and are touring the country in tour busses. They all seem to get along well and were so happy to chat about what they were up to. At this point I stop to think about how relieved I am that the show I love, I am Cait, is true “reality” TV. These are REAL ladies, with REAL relationships, with a REAL important agenda. Cait goes into detail about the harsh reality facing the LGBTQ community. In Russia for example, If you are LGBTQ, you are diagnosed as having a mental disorder, which means you are seen as unfit to have a drivers license.  She goes on to say 70 countries represented by the UN penalize this community.

When she speaks of these concerns she is emotional, passionate and concerned. She is 100% authentic and …. Real.

 

 

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Credit: Caitlyn Jenner Instagram

 

 

The conversation begins to shift towards one of her daughters, Kendall Jenner. Cait was beaming with pride recalling last weeks taping of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, where Kendall was selected out of thousands of models to carry the infamous 30lb+ wings  on her back as a coveted VS angel.

 

 

They are inquisitive towards me and were asking all types of questions about my blog, job, son, and boyfriend. It was refreshing to meet highly recognized people who actually care to ask about my life and me! I am so used to celebs that are unbearably self-centered, a nice change of pace. We spoke for some time about why I started this blog and how my goal is to highlight RISK & REINVENTION. Caitlyn showed sympathy when I said I was a single mom. I gently reminded her that she has 10 kids and I was doing just fine.  We both giggled.

To say that our “brands” coincide could not be more accurate.

 

 

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Amy V Quote

 

 

 

At this point I realize my phone is dead… (of course it is!!)

 

And I would likely miss the opportunity for a selfie. Kip Zachary, Cait’s makeup artist offered to take the picture and text it to me; it was all so cool and surreal.

 

I was always a fan of Bruce. He was an American treasure. However, I would not have sent over a Four Seasons priced bottle of Veuve Cliquot to Bruce. Caitlyn on the other hand has become America’s sweetheart, a woman with courage, grace, and dignity.

 

Cait and I ended our time together with a sincere hug. I whispered, “God Bless you ” in her ear, and she replied with the same.

 

I was honored to hang with them that evening.  I understand some people don’t see Caitlyn as a hero, even going as far as stating she didn’t deserve to be recognized at the ESPY’s, but we aren’t getting into that here. Given all of the conflicts and chaos raging around the world, I’m all for someone spreading peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HOW TO BE FINANCIALLY STD FREE

As a single mom I realize the importance of having my finances in order. This was not something my younger rose-colored glasses wearing, neophyte to adulthood, newly married self would have ever even considered learning more about.

 

As a married woman I always left the finances and money talk to my husband, in a ‘that’s not my lane’ type of attitude. When I became a mom and then later got a divorced; I was forced to get a crash course and a grip on my money. I no longer had the luxury of “staying in my lane,” it’s all my responsibility now.

 

Leaving Good Morning Texas and joining the Rodney Anderson Radio show team every weekday (1190AM 11am-12pm) has been the most fascinating and educational experience I have ever had. By talking about financial hot topics and having to know what I was talking about has taught me to not only live within my means but also live below my means.
FInancialSTD

 

In order to be the best mom I can be it is critical that I make sure my son and I are financially STD free. You read that right… A financial STD is sexually transmitted debt. When you get married, for better or worse, you inherit their debt.

 

Financialinfidelity

 

This leads me to tell you about financial infidelity – this is when your spouse is spending and you don’t know about it. Marriage is a business deal, which means it is more than critical to know everything related to your finances. If you are in the dating scene here is a great way to subtly and organically find out about their financial health:

 

If you are on a first or second date at dinner ask them “if that waitress handed you $10,000 – what would you do with it?”
-If they say it would go in savings – great answer!
-If they say “blow it all on a new toy” – dig further!

 

I get it. Dating is hard enough. No one likes to talk money when you can talk about LOVE and ehhh…hem SEX! But I promise you, if you take that Financial Day Off with your partner, and you are vulnerable, and truly honest… the love (and sex) will only get better.

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Finance And The City

Recovering from my stolen purse experience has been quite a journey, a journey of lessons learned and consequences paid. After a criminal stole my purse while I was walking my child into school, they withdrew large sums of money, even after all my cards had been canceled. It took more than 3 weeks to recoup my money and countless hours taking matters into my own hands. At this point the police and I both know the address of my perpetrator, but they remain free because Chase Bank (at more than one location) neglected to outfit their branches with proper equipment, specifically cameras, to prevent instances like this.

I had an overwhelming number of people who have thanked me for sharing my story because they were able to learn my lesson with me instead of finding out the hard way. As a result, I would like to share how everything was ultimately handled and explain how my experience prompted a much-needed Financial Day Off.

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A Financial Day Off is something that I learned from my trusted and dear friend, Rodney Anderson. Rodney is a financial health resuscitator. His broad knowledge and expertise extends to all aspects of financial well-being. He is a very well known mortgage professional appearing frequently on national TV and radio to share his expertise, in addition to his weekly radio show (which I co-host) on weekdays AM-1190, and Saturday on 1080 KRLD AM. Rodney’s knowledge spans economic trends, consumer credit, credit capacity, all types of mortgages, housing markets, economic indicators, as well as the impact of real-life issues, which is exactly why his advice was my first stop after my purse was stolen.

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Once the obvious things were handled like canceling my credit cards, contacting police, and doing my own du-diligence, Rodney suggested I take a Financial Day Off; this is a day dedicated to reviewing all finances. A day to make the call to your phone company and ask why as a single mom am I paying for a family plan, internet and TV- why do I have every single movie channel even though I absolutely HATE watching movies, take inventory of what is on auto pay. A day to figure out why you are paying for both Pandora and Spotify, notice that your Mystic Tan membership is still charging you even though you canceled it over a year ago. A day you look at your credit cards and/or checking accounts as an itemized list. In a world of auto draft and auto payment we forget little things. I saved myself nearly $3,000 on this day.

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As a single mom I realize the importance of having my finances in order. I have learned to not only live in my means but also live below my means.

Having said all of this, and after giving you my best financial advice, I must now practice what I preach and begin to be my own financial mistress. In order to do so, I need to acquire real assets for my son, Wyatt and myself. This means less shopping and more saving up for a home. Owning a home, according to Rodney, is one of the best investments because: mortgages are cheap right now and this is a buyers market, owning is less expensive then renting (most of the time), and most importantly, it’s yours! When school lets out for the summer this purchase is happening. I will keep you all in the loop with the process! Keep on #ChasingAmy because these next steps are going to be huge for me!

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