The ABCs of Wealth
This past weekend, I traveled to DC for the Black Women in Food conference. I was able to connect with folks working in food, writing about food, and those championing women who’ve committed their lives to food. It was such a generative and rejuvenating experience.
During the conference there was a refrain about the importance of being in community with each other and understanding the many benefits that come from pouring into others. If you know me or have at least experienced the work we do through Sugar Hill Creamery, you know that community is a big value of mine.
Auzerais Bellamy (founder of The Blondery, a luxury bakery business that sells the most delicious blondies and desserts) and I
Black Women in Food Summit Founders Nina Oduro and Maame Boakye welcoming their packed audience
Jeanine Prime (founder of St. James and Cane, two restaurant concepts in DC) and I at the conference. Jeanine and I just completed a James Beard Foundation program together so it was great to see her.
I think of being in community as a metric of wealth. Financial independence guru Vicki Robin agrees. In a podcast episode with financial independence content creator Paula Pant, Robin said, “We don’t see community as wealth. We don’t think about community as what will actually see us through.”
Later in the episode she talked about her ABC’s of wealth. Her B stands for belonging and the C for community. Folks that fall into the B category are those who show up for you in your times of need. They are the people you count on. For some, that may be family but for others, especially those of us living in cities without our immediate family, those people are friends.
How do you cultivate belonging with non-blood relatives? The answer is simple and yet complicated. Vulnerability, the ability to listen, the ability to ask for help, and being generous with your resources are all required. All of these actions are free but our openness to allow ourselves to act on them is often the impediment. The New Mom’s Group that I started six years ago has been a source for belonging between many new mothers in our neighborhood. In a recent survey completed by alumnae, 95% reported that they were still either “doing life together” with their cohorts or remained in communication with them. My mission at Sugar Hill Creamery is to serve delicious ice cream with excellent customer service, all the while turning strangers into neighbors, neighbors into friends, and friends into family.
Robin defines community as “the place you live on earth. It’s the social services that come from governments, but it’s also those webs that get built in a community of place.” Your neighbors, your local stores, the social services, your natural world, and the possible mutual aid that exist in your neighborhood are part of your community ecosystem. Community is currency.
We are often motivated by money and define our worth through the lens of how much money we have accumulated. Yet, what truly matters is our relational wealth because while money does make things easier, it does nothing to assuage the soul when a human balm is needed.
So I leave you with some questions:
How are you showing up as a neighbor for your neighbors?
Are there opportunities for you to ask your “Belonging” people for help even if you could probably more easily pay for the solution?
How often are you giving information, skills, and/or time to people in your Belonging circle or community?
Have you prioritized monetary wealth over relational wealth? If so, how might you take action to balance both so that you are not bankrupt in either?
‘Tis the season for ice cream. I hope you treat yourself to a scoop tomorrow even if it’s not ours!
Have a great week,
Petrushka
Your Local Ice Cream Lady & Life/Business Coach
P.S. Our next Sugar Hill New Mom's Group starts on May 9th! Share this link with an expecting mom.