Who Is The Daily Word’s Ash Cash?…

A Quitter For All The Right Reasons: Ash Cash Teaches You About Your Money

During one of the worst economic times in the country’s history, 30-year-old Ash Cash decided to take a leap of faith and quit his six figure job as a bank manager to pursue a dream of becoming an entrepreneur and teaching financial literacy. Born and raised in a single parent household in the St. Nicholas projects in Harlem, it was believed by Ash and most of his peers that they would be dead or in jail by the age of 25. Somehow, through faith, family support, hard work, and sacrifice, he was able to avoid both.

With more than 10  years of banking experience, Ash was able to work his way up the ranks from teller to personal banker, private banker, and branch manager. Throughout his career, he managed a book of 400 affluent clients, with assets ranging from $100,000 to $22 million, coached and trained over 100 sales professionals, opened and managed six branches, and brought in almost $90 million in deposits.

Today, he is a personal finance expert, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and the author of Mind Right, Money Right: 10 Laws of Financial Freedom. He works with city agencies and organizations and teaches financial literacy in churches, colleges, and to undeserved, at risk, and incarcerated youth. Simply put, Ash is on a mission to “Financially Re-Educate Every Spectrum of Humanity.” Ash is also a contributing writer here at AllHipHop.com, so we wanted to formally introduce him and find out more about what he does and why does he do it:

AllHipHop.com: What inspires you to work with the African American community on matters of financial literacy?

Ash Cash: Jay-Z once said, “There’s much bigger issues in the world, I know/ But first I had to take care the world I know!” That’s exactly how I feel. I am product of this environment, and the difference between those who are successful and those who are not is simply access to knowledge and the application of that knowledge. In layman’s terms, “If you know better you’ll do better”… and while that might not be true 100 percent of the time, I do believe that the more we see people of our same background rise to places we never thought possible, the more chances we have to change our circumstance.

Financial literacy is what I know. Through working with other classes of people, I have realized that if we changed how we manage our money, if we knew the difference between assets and liabilities, if we learned how to prioritize and put the first things first, then most of the issues that we go through as a people would either diminish or be non-existent.

AllHipHop.com: What are some of the biggest problems you see in the community as it pertains to money?

Ash Cash: You’ll notice that I love using quotes, so here’s another… Will Smith once said, “We spend money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.” That sums up our biggest problem in a nutshell. As a people, we are so used to not having money, that we can’t really grasp the concept of saving for the future and spending our money wisely. Couple that with the fact that a lot of us have low self-esteem, so we use material things to make us feel better. Some of us would rather spend money on cars, jewelry and clothes than to become homeowners, save for emergencies, or fix our credit.

Our issues are deeply rooted, and they become a cycle that is passed down from generation to generation making it more difficult to break. The good news is that there’s a movement going on; people are starting to wake up and take more responsibility. We are seeing more of our people excel in positions that, in the past, didn’t seem possible. This movement is what is spearheading the paradigm change and forcing many of us to put the first things first.

AllHipHop.com: Many of our readers are in the “let’s make it happen” generation. What tips can you provide to those who are trying to make it happen but are having trouble finding their way?

Ash Cash: Oprah once said that the key to happiness is to find your passion, then figure out how to make money doing it. That is exactly my advice. In order to really make it happen you must make sure you are working on something that you are truly passionate about.

Never chase money, because if you do, you will seldom get it. The truth is that no matter what you do, there will always be some sort of difficulty and obstacle that will try to stand in your way; but, if you are passionate those difficulties never paralyze you. Without passion it is easier to give up and move on to other things. Finding your way is about asking yourself, “What would I do if I had all the money in the world?” Once you figure out that answer, then begin doing that ASAP!!

AllHipHop.com: Here’s a biggie. Our credit and FICO scores, how important are they, and how can it effect our future?

Ash Cash: Wow!! Credit may be one of the biggest things that stop people from living their dreams. Credit can stop you from buying a house, renting an apartment, buying a car, and even obtaining employment! I call credit the gift and the curse; depending on how you treat it, it can either be a dream or a nightmare. The important thing is to always know where you stand. By law, certain states are required to give you a free credit report annually. Make sure you are taking full advantage of this and are understanding what you need to do to improve your score. Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com to see if your state participates.

AllHipHop.com: Tell us about your book and why people should read it.

Ash Cash: Mind Right, Money Right: 10 Laws of Financial Freedom is a book designed to teach you how to effectively manage your personal finances. It shows you how, with the right mental attitude and laser sharp focus, you can have anything you desire in life. It’s an easy to read book that anyone, at any level, can understand.This book is especially geared towards anyone who is tired of having a dependency on money and is ready to take some practical steps in order to correct it. This is our generation’s Think and Grow Rich. Starting with the power of self-confidence the book discusses in detail how having a positive mental attitude, paying yourself first, budgeting and planning for the future are all ways to immediately change your financial situation.

Mind Right, Money Right demonstrates how your mind set plays a tremendous role in creating financial abundance. By using examples of successful people such as Sean Combs, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Shawn Carter, Curtis Jackson, Chris Lighty, and many others, the reader is given a real life account of how these laws have worked for others and how it can work for them. It’s important to point out that the title is Mind Right, Money Right, and not the other way around. Once we are able to control the way we look at money, the way we feel about money, and the way we think about money, then it will become easier for us to keep and grow our money…To sum it up simply: this book will change your life!

AllHipHop.com: The reality is most people know how to spend money, but many don’t know how to keep it. Which law would you consider to be the most powerful?

Ash Cash: That’s a trick question, because I believe that all 10 of them are necessary in order to effectively change someones mindset and create lasting financial freedom. But, if I had to choose just one, I would say its to “Make your money work for you.” This is powerful because it goes against everything we were taught in school, home, and in the workplace.

This law gives the control back to the people! It says that instead of relying on your physical labor to make money, rely on creating passive income that will allow you to make money even while you sleep. Some examples of this are books, CDs, and any other form of intellectual property, rental income, franchising a business, network marketing, and investing in the stock market just to name a few.

AllHipHop.com: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our AllHipHop audience?

Ash Cash: Absolutely! First, I would like to thank you and the team at AllHipHop.com for all you do for the culture. There are many who exploit it for their personal gain, but as a reader of AllHipHop, from day one I love the dedication to pushing the culture forward. To the AllHipHop audience, I want to remind you that we are still recovering from one of the worst economic meltdowns in our nation’s history. With bankruptcies, foreclosures, and unemployment still high, many of us are still afraid of what the future holds! Now is the time to make a decision! We can either sit back and allow fear to stop us from going after our dreams or we can look fear straight in the face and say, “This is my time!!”

Studies show that many successful businesses have been started during bad economic times and continue to do well way after. Burger King, FedEx, Microsoft, CNN, and MTV are all examples of such companies. Hard times can either be the ending point or the starting point. The choice is ours, and we have no excuse! Let’s all make the conscious effort to begin to take care of our responsibilities, and never let anything or anyone hold us back! The world is ours! Let’s make sure we are taking what we deserve!! Each one, teach one!

You can read Ash’Cash’s “Daily Word” column in the lifestyle section or visit www.IamAshCash.com for more information on Ash’Cash.