Show notes –
Join Shannon, Christine, and Kameron for a chat about Occupational Wellness & “lawyer influencers!”
Resources:
Stillpoint – https://www.amazon.com/Stillpoint-Self-Care-Playbook-Caregivers-Breathe/dp/1732370400
Incremental Steps – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/incremental-steps-podcast/id1496966742
Email Kameron at:
hello@kameronmonet.com
Find Kameron on all social media platforms
@kameronmonet
What to do before you quit our job – Robert Kiyosaki – https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dads-Before-Quit-Multimillion-Dollar/dp/0446696374
Aug 3rd Black Women Equal Pay Day – https://www.equalrights.org/events/black-womens-equal-pay-day-2021/
Cash Flow Board Game – https://www.amazon.com/Cashflow-101-Board-Game-Expedited/dp/B078B9244Y/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=cash+flow+board+game&qid=1628112997&s=books&sr=1-1
The Creative’s Law Library
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDY79xeXGhg3x6_rbQkJB4A
Show Transcript –
NOTE: While it’s not perfect, we offer this transcription by Otter.ai for those who are hearing impaired or who don’t find listening to a podcast enjoyable or possible.
Christine Gautreaux 0:08
Let’s do this.
Shannon M. 0:08
Okay, ladies, welcome to our podcast. I am Shannon Mitchell, a black female, millennial entrepreneur, the founder of shallow glow, a handmade shea butter company. I am a champion for your self care, business care and intentional wellness.
Christine Gautreaux 0:25
And I am Christine Gautreaux, a white social justice advocate, an international speaker, coach and published author who helps you upgrade yourself in community care.
Shannon M. 0:35
Yes. And together, we are women connected in wisdom, a podcast grounded in the eight dimensions of wellness. Welcome, welcome to our show, and we
Christine Gautreaux 0:44
love get together every week and have intentional conversations about how to be wise in business, relationships and wellness. And we love to hear from amazing people about all the different topics too. So how are you my friend?
Shannon M. 1:00
I’m good. I’m grateful to be here. Looking forward to everything that we’re going to talk about. How are you?
Christine Gautreaux 1:06
Oh, I am so amazing. Right at this moment. I am. As you know, I am a participant and a facilitator over at the alternate routes national conference. It’s a place where arts and activism meet. And I just wrapped up a two hour presentation using interplay and telling our stories and listening to our body wisdom about where we’re from. Because this is a southern organization. It’s a national conference. But we are a southern organization that directly supports artists and activists. And so yeah, my heart is just so full. Because these are amazing human beings that are doing some incredible work in the world. I should invite Michelle Ramos, their executive director to come talk to us. Yeah, let’s have a conversation with us. Yeah, we’ll do that. That’d be fine.
Shannon M. 1:59
Yeah, I’m excited. So we are talking about occupational wellness. I’m going to give us our definition. So we can jump right in. Yes, saying that occupational wellness represents the feeling of purpose and productivity in one’s chosen profession. This pillar is certainly a key element to what we refer to as work life balance. As an enriching and productive professional life is certainly required to mesh with a healthy personal life.
Christine Gautreaux 2:25
Oh, I love that definition. And when I listen to you say that definition, I’m filled with such gratitude for the work I get to do in the world. Yeah, and in the business I’ve created. Because, you know, when I first started out as a baby, social worker, I was working for different agencies. And you know, I’ve had really, I’ve been really lucky with occupations to have good people I’ve worked with and good, but a lot of times interacting with systems, you know, can be stressful. So now being an entrepreneur and a contract worker doing a lot of interplay, and community social work, who just, I feel so lucky, when you read that part about the work life balance. Yeah. What about?
Shannon M. 3:14
So I don’t know, if I’ve been lucky, I’ve definitely been able to take advantage of opportunities, right? Being able to say, Oh, I stepped down from a salary job in my mid 20s. That is somewhere that, you know, if I was born in a different generation, I don’t, I would doubt that I wouldn’t be able to say the same thing. So I would definitely say that, but they’re also definitely situations where I should have recorded that maybe some legal action should have been required. Or we could have followed up a little more specifically, so that systems could be changed. So people could be better, you know, well, taking care of that work, because I definitely have stories. I feel like for days of things that I could have done better using my schedule requests better. So I’m not overworked and I’m over extended, right? But also things that of course, are not okay to do you know, that they’re This is not how you support your teammate instead, it could have look like this and how do you had those conversations? So, yeah, I’m excited to jump into the conversation.
Christine Gautreaux 4:17
Well, I’m excited about our guest today. And should we go ahead and bring her out? Sure. Let’s bring her ready. Okay. I I know you’re excited because you two went to college together. Yes. I’m so delighted so y’all get ready. Our guest today Cameron Buckner is a licensed attorney, content creator and social media strategist. Cameron graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor of Science in political science, and then obtained her Juris Doctorate from Cumberland School of Law. right out of law school, Cameron became an associate attorney practicing employment litigation, but Cameron was as more than just your average lawyer, I love that. For years, Cameron is use social media to create content about fashion, beauty and lifestyle, as well as female professionalism and career building. She has built an engaging and organic audience with over 100,000 followers across her platforms at Cameron Monet. Several years she had for several years she has collaborated with various brands from Dove to Dyson to ultra beauty through influencer marketing. Soon, Cameron realized her social media expertise, along with her license to practice law created the perfect combination to help aspiring lawyer influencers and educate content creators about the power of contracts when signing brand deals. So Cameron quit her nine to five law firm job to live with what she calls the best of both worlds. Oh my gosh, y’all, we are going to have such a good conversation today. Welcome to the stage, Kameron Monet.
Kameron Monet 6:07
Hey, y’all. I’m super excited to be here. What an intro. Thank you. Love a goodbye. Oh, man, I can’t lie. Or disturbed by Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Shannon M. 6:23
So camera, when I think about what question Did I have for you? Is it employment litigation? Yeah, you talk about exactly what that is, especially when we speak to occupational wellness.
Kameron Monet 6:38
Absolutely. And it’s funny, because when you were talking about going through an experience of leaving your job, or maybe you should have had legal help there. That’s exactly what I used to do. So I was on the side of the employee. And what we would do is we would get on the phone, I was constantly interacting with clients. And that was my favorite part because not only as a new lawyer was that helping me challenge me the way I was able to communicate things and not use all these legalese terms. Because when I went to law school, I was like, I don’t want to turn into like just this, this mannequin of a person to not be able to communicate, because that’s who you’re talking to. You’re talking to regular people, and they just want to know, how can they get legal action? So with something like what you would have, we would get on the phone, and we just kind of talk about what is your experience at your job? What has been happening lately? Has anything changed? And as far as like your position, or do you have a new manager? Are they being inappropriate? Are there terms that they’re using? And then after that, I will just see where does the law align with that. And sometimes, unfortunately, as we know, the law is not always on anybody’s side. Um, I’d have to have that hard conversation. But sometimes there were those times where those lightbulb moments were not not even that they needed to seek legal action, but that they they could use their PTO, or that they can ask for some leave, or they were able to be covered under like the FMLA, which is the Family Medical Leave Act, there’s so many other avenues that can help when it comes to employment that relate to your wellness.
Christine Gautreaux 7:52
Hmm. Cameron, I have a and I’m sorry to put you on the spot about this. But talking about that just made me think Did you see that video going around about the employee at Wendy’s that filmed her boss calling her name? Digital?
Kameron Monet 8:08
Are you gonna say something else? Because I’ve seen some other stuff, unfortunately. So often, like the stories were crazy.
Christine Gautreaux 8:14
This was a young black woman, and she had a white male manager. And he was calling her female dog. He was like, and she caught him on video. And it went viral. But I’m curious, like in a situation like that when you like, what’s going to happen? Because I don’t know the follow up yet. I don’t think about the follow up. But I mean, it was blatant. Yeah, it was horrible. It was harassment it was racism it was
Kameron Monet 8:47
and all those things we dealt with, I will say social media viral posts and things like that can be so beneficial now that I love that people recording things because you have that but also sometimes in law because it’s so old and behind on digital things that it’s hard to be able to figure out how to use that where it’s not already I guess clouded by like public’s knowledge or like how did you actually get the video and things of that nature when people don’t in the legal field a lot of times not myself because I am in the social media streets but a lot of them don’t understand how digital marketing works or how cameras and videos work but the first thing she should do is contact a torrent attorney of course employment attorney. One Two calm to see what her job did after the fact. Did they fire her? Did they put her on leave? Did they fire him What were they at their actions? Because a lot of the times you’re going to let’s be honest get more money because I worked not in criminal I worked for basically monetary Okay, civil. So you have to see where does the money reside? In this case, it will be in the place of employment a lot of times so What actions did they do after that? Did they support that employee that was going through that horrific, traumatizing moment and then as an attorney, people call us counselors. Sometimes we have to put on a counselor hat and understand that they’re going through one of the emotional traumatizing moments of their life. How can we help them do This while knowing that sometimes the law doesn’t align. So the first thing we do as employment lawyers not to go to legalese, but we have to file with the EEOC, which the employment Ooh, not me, not me getting a brain fart, but it’s the EEOC, you can Google it. And what we do with them is we just give them all the information that we have, and we follow report there first, and then they do their own internal investigations, they’re able to get statements from the other side. And then once we get that back from the EEOC, and that’s confirmed, either they agree with us or not, regardless, then we can file a complaint. So it can be a long process, because the EEOC has, I want to say, three to six months, depending on what they got going on. Sometimes they’re busy, especially after you know the panorama, a lot of things were happening in employment, whether it was just unemployment issues, or just like workhouse issues, whether it’s like I want to work remote, but I can’t, but technically, my job could be done at work. What does that look like? So it’s just a long process. But I’m so glad that she got that on video, because that’s going to be a game changer. No one wants to go to court and see themselves on the big screen, saying all those things. One, it’s not going to even if they still work at that place, which will be crazy. They’re not going to get another job anywhere else. So they’re probably going to settle out of court, I would assume.
Christine Gautreaux 11:10
I hope so. You know, when you said that about did they fire her support her? You know, we know that that craziness happened, especially for black and brown women that that they are the ones that often take the hit versus the person who is the perpetrator? So
Kameron Monet 11:28
it’s wild.
Shannon M. 11:30
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I had a situation. And I mean, again, there was a couple of situations. And what I would, you know, advise my staff to do is have the conversation, just like in anything else, you can’t expect somebody to now outside of this, clearly, you’re being called out of your name. So yeah, there’s stuff that you know, we know how it how it should go. But outside of that, absolutely, as a teammate is your responsibility to communicate with that person. I had the conversation. There was no accountability, ability roles, or switch, you know, we’re saying one thing, and then my review about how I’m amazing, and we need the other team, you know, team members to be like you. And now in this conversation that was about supposed to be about accountability. It’s, I don’t want to have to micromanage you. And it’s, how is it the same thing, it can’t be both. So if it’s one or the other, that’s fine, just let me know, so that I can be a better teammate. And then it was a conversation of we’re so gonna need you to stay focused and keep a good attitude. And with my sick mom that I didn’t know, for 12 years, dying, I said, Let me step down.
Kameron Monet 12:35
Absolutely. And that’s like I was saying a little bit earlier is asked for that time. As for that lead, there’s so many times when we I read them now, because I’m sorry, but we just signed those employee handbooks, and we just signed those things. And there’s so much hopefully valuable and helpful resources in those documents that we don’t even know about. So we’re like, we’re stressed, and we’re working overtime and all these things. But there are so many things within those, the handbook that they provide to you and resources that they provide you or they’re supposed to, that can help you and give you that time that you need off. Also, I say this to my social media clients. Now, clients when I was working employment litigation, even as a law clerk when I was working at the District Attorney’s Office, put everything in writing, put everything in writing, because just like you were saying he say she say if it’s written down and signed, even if it’s not like a formal contract or document get something in writing, even if it’s an email,
Shannon M. 13:25
even if that’s a word.
Christine Gautreaux 13:28
That is such good advice. And yeah, like you’re talking about, like Family Medical Leave Act and ways that are in policy and in law that you can speak up for, exactly. Well, I can imagine a lot of women needed that this last year as so they bore the burden of the pandemic of having kids at home when the childcare centers were closed, and when school was virtual. And then they were working and do like, I know, there’s been a lot of studies about it and a lot of conversation. But I’m sure that hopefully a lot of people knew about that and were able to access it.
Kameron Monet 14:10
Absolutely. And that’s also when you run a business and now that I own my own business, it’s something you should be communicating to your employees, that’s going to help run the business better. Everyone’s happy your business is growing. So it’s something where I’ve seen like last year, some companies that were doing it well, they were just letting their employees know, hey, there are resources, we’re here to help you. This is what we can do. This is what we can provide. And then in the long run, a lot of them ended up staying with those companies because of those small little tweaks and just hearing people out last year was hard. I mean, life’s hard in general, but last year was hard. And even this year is hard coming off of a year that we had no idea what was going on and still there’s a lot of questions. So it’s definitely all about communicating and also as an employee, be honest, talk to your whoever your supervisor and let them know like you know what I I can’t today or I’m I’m having trouble with so and so how can I best address this I want to be able to communicate with them.
Christine Gautreaux 15:02
So Kameron, I have a question. Because you, you know, we’re different generations. We so like, you know, when I was growing up, we didn’t have social media and we didn’t have y’all. I’m gonna date myself. But we didn’t have computers until I was in high school. Like I remember that very first computer where we coded our name and our name like scroll. Y’all have no idea what it is. But our name scrolled across the computer and we thought we hit the jackpot. Like, that’s where I come from, right? And your bio was about being a social media influencer? Hot you get into that, and tell us more tell our listeners more about that.
Kameron Monet 15:42
Absolutely. So, um, where do I start? So I’ve always been a Creative At Heart. When I was a kid, I was all in musical theater and plays and performances, and I just loved everything about that I did speaking engagements, I just loved being in front of the camera. And then also what happened behind the camera when it comes to editing and graphics, I just was always so intrigued with that, but also like to read and write. So that’s what we’ve lost. But, um, I started just creating videos on YouTube, like I used to, I want to say it was around 2013 is when I started watching YouTube videos, I was transitioning with my hair going natural, I was trying a different fashion and different makeup. And I was like growing as an adult. And I was in college I was doing and I was like, let me just watch these videos of people that I feel like I feel relate to. It was different than celebrities. And I think that’s really where now more than ever people see that it wasn’t it seemed people that I could actually like meet that I actually could relate to versus like a celebrity. I’m like, girl that’s $12 Hama relate, but it they just seemed more relatable. And that’s why I love the influencer marketing space now. So I would just create content on YouTube, I would shoot videos and post them and then I would comment and I would notice that I started to curate this community in this audience that they would come to me about things like, Hey, where’d you get that makeup, and I was like, y’all really want to know, like, what I was just doing it because I enjoyed recording. And then it started to I started to realize like it was more than just me recording the content, it was the connections I was able to make over the country in a split second with social media. And that is the benefit of digital marketing. It’s quick, if I hand you a business card, that’s just to you one person, you might lose it, we’ve all lost a business card dropped in the trash, whatever the case may be. But with your internet profile, that is your business card essentially like even if you’re not doing it for influencing. But what I love about that is you have a one stop shop for everything about you whether it’s a business or whether it’s personal, your family can keep up with you. That’s why we also have a Facebook, let’s be honest, we also have Facebook for our family. And but it’s a beautiful thing my family’s all over the country. So it’s really nice to have that one stop shop, like I said, where you can like meet them. And it’s the same thing with your audience. And then my brand just kept growing. And then I started to realize, oh, wait, I can make money from this, what brands started to realize they can make money from this. It’s that direct communication to the consumer, like direct to consumer. If I’m as a business owner, there’s nothing better for me to have the the number one person that’s going to talk to the person I want them to purchase. Like I’m trying to reach out to my clients, but they already have my clients attention. Why not invest in that person. Therefore, as long as it’s legit, not bought followers, you know, all of the things that we know that happened on social media that shouldn’t, but they created an authentic audience. There’s nothing better than that. So businesses, local, large household name brands are all getting into influencer marketing because of that direct communication they have with clients.
Shannon M. 18:28
Absolutely. And you know, especially with shallow glow, and different social media accounts that I’ve managed. I love that when I think about even YouTube, the name YouTube is literally because you can to to the screen before it was celebrities and studios. And there was all this stuff that had to be relegated and you know, legislated before stuff could go on the screen. And it was a certain message. And now it can be directly to that person, which is also why I love the fact that you change the way that you do law in order to fit in that niche and make more sense because and we talked about this, you know, I definitely see that as being the future as a business owner. Absolutely. When I as a business owner, one of the books that I love is what to do before you quit your job by Robert Kiyosaki. And he talks about the different systems that you need. And legal is definitely one of the systems that I would say, I will put my money on. Most people don’t have expertise in of course, when they start a business, right. So going on social media, young, you know, entrepreneurs who want to get their foot in the door businesses who don’t need the overhead of a brick and mortar store, which is great, but you need to make sure that you’re legally covered. I love it for all of those reasons.
Kameron Monet 19:42
Absolutely. And something that I realized like my heart was for the creators, a lot of attorneys that I know that are doing amazing jobs and they are doing amazing. They end up working more with businesses and brands and I’ll say yeah, the money’s better over there. They have the money for a legal department for an attorney. So what I try to do is have a healthy balance between I give a lot of free content on purpose, I want to make it so that anyone can access this information being covered by the law, no matter what area it shouldn’t be like this scary No one hush hush, no one should know about it. Honestly, I would be so much better not to go too deep, but it would be so much better, we all had a little bit more access to things like that, because there’s small little things that we can do on the daily are in our business or in our personal life, that would change the game legally. So we wouldn’t be in and out of the court system, especially for minorities. But that’s a whole nother topic. But when it comes to like social media, a lot of things don’t even end up in court or like trial, it’s just them not knowing the knowledge of let me make sure I get an LLC, so I don’t get sued for my taxes. Or, or let me make sure I actually have a contract, even though this brand is just sending me free product, but I want to make sure they know that I’m not required to post or whatever the case may be that it’s smaller, large, but it’s all about just providing access. And of course, I mean, I’ve got to get a little coin too, but I try to make it extremely affordable, because I know how it feels to need something and not be able to afford it.
Christine Gautreaux 20:57
I love that Cameron. So you so what I’m hearing you say is you’ve combined your legal expertise, and your creativity to help creators who are doing social media creation, to protect themselves.
Kameron Monet 21:11
Absolutely. And I love it. Because I’m, I always pictured when I think of like what I’m doing like in like a picture like an image. I’m like walking next to the creators, I’m walking with them, getting the brand deals with them. And then like whispering in the air, like, Hey, by the way, make sure you do this, Hey, by the way, you make sure to do this, rather than me being in front of them, like guiding them. I’m walking with them. So I think that level of it is for me has been a game changer. Because I really relate when net 30 comes around, and I haven’t been paid. I’m there, I feel you. Let’s talk about how I got through that and how I can help you through it.
Christine Gautreaux 21:42
So for our listeners, or people like me who don’t know what net 30 is.
Kameron Monet 21:49
Net 30 Is it I just got through all the time. So no amount of time where you get paid. So sometimes it’s net 90. So it’s like 30 days, whatever time that you like pay,
Christine Gautreaux 22:00
I thought you were dropping some social media thing that I had, like social media versus being in Oh, yeah, as a contractor. Yeah, just like that 90.
Kameron Monet 22:15
It’s crazy. Because a lot of people think, Oh, you just take a picture. And it’s fun, and you live this life, which is great. But like you can’t pay the bills with a makeup product, you can’t do it. And businesses, they want you to promote their products. And they’re making hundreds of 1000s millions of dollars essentially, from you your likeness, your audience, your engagement, your work ethic, your quality, etc, your expertise and your degrees and all these things. And then you aren’t making money and or you’re just driving always uses scenario, you’re driving down the street, you see your name or your face on a billboard, but you have no money in your pocket and you’re struggling to pay your bills. That’s not a place I want my friends as creators, colleagues, clients to be or me at all, which is why I’m like, let’s get these contracts. Let’s get to the bag. And it’s like, yes, everyone’s like, Oh, don’t be so money hungry. It’s not even really about the money. It’s about the ethics at that point. Because people are getting paid, some creators are getting paid. So why can’t we ask for money to
Christine Gautreaux 23:08
willing, can I just pop in here and say, nobody has ever said don’t be money hungry to a white? Period? I mean, it’s just true. Like, I’ll say it to women. They will say it all day long. And I just am always like,
Kameron Monet 23:26
because we are how will I pay my bills like your house and go to work?
Christine Gautreaux 23:38
Real is real.
Shannon M. 23:40
And I love what you said to Cam? Because when you have a situation like this young lady did at Wendy’s, where does the confidence come to feel safe to speak up at your next job? Right? If you do have somebody that you know, in your family you’re in that’s been impacted by the legal system and you feel like it might not have been fair, how do you have the confidence to then especially when you don’t have the expertise, start writing contracts and figuring stuff out. And especially through quarantine with the way things were updated? One thing we’ll say another thing, something else will say something else, but you’re at the end of the month, they want the sales tax, regardless of what you thought. So, yeah, I love what you do.
Kameron Monet 24:21
That’s a great point. And I also would add another like element to kind of just being honest and genuine online as an attorney and as a professional is that I kind of break those barriers down. Like I’m relatable. I always when I went to law school, I was intimidated. Like, I didn’t know any lawyers. I didn’t know any judges. I was like, I never forget, I was sitting in orientation. And I was like, I don’t I shouldn’t be here. People are talking about their family who are judges and this and I’m like, Cha I’m just so glad to be here. I’m just here to have a great time to meet and network. And then it ended up being a blessing in disguise. Like my first summer internship was with the district attorney’s office. And of course I was intimidated wasn’t what the heck, but like it was a moment when I was sitting down Back in the chambers of the judge, and we were talking and laughing, I was like, wait a minute, this is just a career. It doesn’t define who I am. It’s just, it’s just a job that I go to. And then that changed my whole perspective of everything. So when people that like such a young lady from Wendy’s, when she ends up having a positive Lord willing a positive experience with an attorney with a judge, etc, it’s going to help other people see that, yes, there’s some bad apples, okay, there’s bad apples in any job, shadows, bad apples in my family, you know, but at the end of the day, once you have that good experience, and you see other influencers that are attorneys, or are doctors and they kind of break those barriers, and joke and laugh and show their personality and say, Hey, I’m stressed today, or I’m struggling today, or I was not visible once a day. But tomorrow’s a new day that that changes the game for any industry.
Shannon M. 25:43
Absolutely. And that’s another reason why I’ve been excited to have you on the call, you know, because we definitely have experiences that could steer us one way. But the point is to keep going and in this situation, make sure that you have what you need. And beyond a better side of it. You know, Wendy’s was one of my first jobs. And definitely, you know, I see I know what they’re talking about. And thankfully, it wasn’t like that. But I could have said some stuff about a few things. So I hear you cam and I hear you talking about how you felt when you started. So that leads me to my next question. How do you balance your self care? And everything that you do? Because especially working on social media is a lot doing laws a lot? And I remember you’re about to take your test you Alright, y’all, y’all not gonna see me? I’m not gonna be here. Exactly. What do you do now?
Kameron Monet 26:31
Yeah, so it’s all about prioritizing, and honestly, I think it’s harder than it seems, especially as an entrepreneur, because for so long, I was kind of just in this rat race of what’s the next step? What’s the next step, I think you stay focused have to work so hard to keep working as a black female, I had to work even harder. I have to put like everything sacrifice, I cannot focus. And then it hit me every once in a while, because I’ll go to the rat race. And I’m like, wait, Cameron, you work for yourself, you left a job because you want the flexibility to go visit your family, you want the flexibility to go get a massage girl you’ve been working out, if you don’t get a massage, leave you alone, and do things like that. So what I do, and it’s so funny that I was doing a blog I uploaded somebody commented like I love how you do small things throughout the day, that help with your self care and wellness. And I didn’t even notice it. But so it’s small things like I take time in the morning, and I write in my journal, I don’t care what’s going on. I don’t care if I’m late, and I’m writing in that journal, I work out three times a week for me that was the sweet spot and one of those one of those days is a scheduled class because I have to be there, I cannot miss it. Those small little things or I have my collagen tea and silence like just little small things that I do throughout the day that really helped me going that if I’m like, Okay, I know it’s a busy time coming up and or I just got back from a busy time, I take time to myself and it’s okay. The hardest part is doing it without guilt. And that’s what I try to do. It’s okay to take time to breathe. You do not have to work yourself to death to be successful. Your hours that you work, do not divide define your success. You can be just as successful working 20 hours a week as you can with 40 hours a week as long as you’re being disciplined and it’s making sense to what you’re trying to obtain your goal. So it’s a process but I say you just find small moments because we’re all busy. I don’t have any children. So I already know but tell my family Lord willing, I’ll be out here running like a chicken my head cut off. But I will find those small increments of time. Even if it’s just in the shower. Sometimes I just like take just an extra long shower. Sometimes I’ll turn the light off put on a candle in the shower like as a bad just even though I don’t have that much time but I just need that one little moment of solid. Sometimes I’m in the car and I won’t listen to any music. I just need to zone out with the with the windows down and just breathe. A lot of times we think we have to do these extravagant vacations. And of course now I love a good little vacation. Don’t get me wrong, but we can’t do that. For whatever reason. It’s okay to find those small moments and say, Okay, that was good. I needed that to refill
Christine Gautreaux 28:48
me. And I would say not only is it’s okay, it’s vital. Yes. Because if we wait for that one amazing vacation a year or you know what we’re gonna go down, especially as women who are hustling, like I think we got a we got to check in with ourselves every day. I love that. Now I did have a clarifying question. Cameron. Did you say collagen tea? Yes. Okay. Give me up to speed. I haven’t been following your. I haven’t been following your channel. I will be after this. But collagen tea and why should we be drinking it?
Kameron Monet 29:23
Yeah, so I put collagen peptides as a powder. I use a powder. Some people use a pill and I put it in my green tea in the morning. It’s really good with the elasticity of your skin is good with your muscle toning. So since I’ve been working out and doing more strength training, I want to make sure that I’m not out for the count, you know, in the middle of that I do good work. So it just helps me to not overwhelm overwhelm fitness and health. And for me, like I started doing like fiber supplements and taking multivitamins, and I don’t see it sometimes I don’t see like an immediate effect, like, Oh, I lost all this weight. But for me, it’s just that I know that I’m taking these extra steps and it just makes me feel really good. Like I just took time to like make this little vitamin supplement like even if I don’t directly feel it. It’s just feels really good. And it gets me going on those days when I’m like, I just need one second and I’m like, Okay, I know what I can do. I can bake me a cake. I can take a minute and listen to a podcast and those small things like they really add up and, and like you’re saying it really is vital, especially I’m a workaholic. Admittedly, I will admit it. Hello, Hi, my name is Carrie. I am a workaholic. But I’m working on that. Because it’s, it’s just because I feel like I gotta be doing something. And I don’t sometimes not doing something is doing something. It’s refueling you for the next Sunday?
Shannon M. 30:28
Absolutely. And Christine knows a lot of that stuff is on my list, too. I like adding collagen to the green tea. I’ve been thinking about adding chlorophyll. And I was talking to somebody about that yesterday putting chlorophyll in my water. But for me, all of the things that you said are preventative right? As we get older, like you say God willing, having families and all these things. Of course, your body takes a toll. So there’s ways that we can prepare for it’s not just about a vaccine, what else can we be doing? To make sure that we’re keeping us, you know, up to date in living as as we could with our vitality? And something else I want to hit on? You talked about working harder as a black woman, right? I think even myself, sometimes I take that as a light phrase, right? Black people always think they have to work harder, or women feel like they have to do more. But actually, I found out yesterday, I didn’t know I don’t maybe you know, camera, and that August 3 is black woman’s Equal Pay Day. I found that, yeah, um, so yeah, but what what the post that I saw was saying is that I personally, if I had a consistent job through quarantine, would have had to work until this month, August 2020, to make the same that a white man would have made all of the year of 2020. So not that I met that this gentleman is making this money, right. But when you talk about occupational wellness, and the energy at work to be enthusiastic, and my kids and black parents being the type of parents that they are, is it really the type of parents that they are? Or is it an equal pay and other things, so absolutely doing those things throughout the day, no matter who you are, as you’re taking care of the things that you need to take care of, I feel like is absolutely necessary for sanity in overall productivity over over a lifetime.
Kameron Monet 32:18
Absolutely. And I had someone I can’t think or I would say who it was, explained it to me because I was like at a stressful time in law school, probably exam season wasn’t the bar because I will remember that was a traumatizing time. That was when Shannon was saying I got off and I was away from the internet. It was the bar exam. And I passed the first time by me. But someone was like, sometimes as a woman, it feels like, as soon as they start the race, let’s just because the Olympics are here, they start the racing like go, but we have to wait for 20 minutes, and then we can go. And then we’re running faster trying to catch up. So that’s how it feels. So that’s why we keep running on this rat race because we’re like, oh, we’re trying to run a catch up. But then it hit me. I was like, Okay, I hear what you’re saying, I can let me work a little bit harder. But then I’m like, at the end of the day, we’re going around the same length, whether it takes me 20 extra minutes or not. So sometimes it’s like okay, is it really worth that? Where’s the for me work life balance? And am I in a place where I want to make the necessary sacrifices to try to catch up? And or can I just go a different way, and I’m gonna be the shortcut, and I’m beat you anyway. So there’s ways around it to look at it in so many different ways. But I think it’s I think it’s almost like a pro and a con, right? Because it’s good to like, Okay, I know, I want to work harder, because that’s going to help me regardless, but also knowing when it’s time to sit back and say, okay, you’ve done enough, it’s, it’s time for you to take break. I love
Shannon M. 33:33
that. And what I think about, and there’s so many things came especially with us going to college together, you know, I’m so proud of you. So I know the story part of the backstory of where you come from, so to see where you are, and where you’re going to go. I’m excited about it. But another thing that I love about your story is what you did was you change the way that you make money. That is huge, right. And when you talk about the rat race, I was so excited this past Sunday, because I’ve been waiting two years to play this cash flow board game, y’all know, I love Robert Kiyosaki. And he has this board game that is the first visual that I’ve seen outside of the movie when we were growing up of the rat race. And basically what financial freedom is, is you have enough passive income or money from your investment to cover your expenses. So if your expenses are $12,000 this year, because you’re downsized because of Corona, try to keep them there and then make your income more than that. And then after that, now we talk about investments and what type of assets you want. But when we already make less money, and then we’re spending money on liabilities, things that get taken out of our pocket. Now we’re starting 20 minutes late to the race and throwing money out the pocket while we’re running down the track. And so the financial literacy in what you need for you personally issue maybe I don’t need what this gentleman needs to support his family of four and I’ll be able to get there you know, and then I’ll have Time for a massage and everything else like you were talking about. Exactly.
Christine Gautreaux 35:03
I’m gonna put a link to that in our show notes, Shannon, but you did say you got a chance to play it cuz I looked it up on Amazon and Good lord, it’s $70 for this board game. He’s making a lot of money. He charges $70 for a board. Oh, great
Kameron Monet 35:19
point. A lot of times we undervalue ourselves as women like the man. He’s like, hey, $20,000 for the service. And that’s what it is. And he’s willing to say no, is there risk takers? I think now more than ever, we have been, and we’re showing them like, oh, it’s game time, guys. We’re here with y’all. And they’re like, Wait a minute. So I’ll say that we’re here to and also unity is all about asking questions. A lot of times, even when I’m talking to like some of my clients, I’m like, just ask nothing. There really is no dumb question. That’s one thing I learned in law school. I mean, all I had to do, I had to ask, I had no idea what was going on. And laws changed so quickly. So not being afraid to ask and then if you see someone else that already has a blueprint, y’all, but if you see someone else that always had already has a blueprint, they spent five years investing in that, why would you wait five years to learn what you have? Sometimes you have to invest in what your knowledge your information?
Christine Gautreaux 36:07
Yeah. So Kameron, do people just hire you with individual clients? Do you teach classes? What do you do for your creatives?
Kameron Monet 36:17
Right, so I’m actually in the process of revamping some things. So my business is the creative Law Library. It’s a digital agency, and we have attorneys across the states of the United States of America. Hopefully, we’ll have international soon. But essentially, we help people with any issue that happens in the influencer marketing kind of process. So whether that’s with contracts, or figuring out rates, or negotiating those rates, or just simply like, how do I know if this brand is legit, we provide a lot of free resources on my YouTube creators, Oliver is worth was coming on. And of course, the Instagram right now is under construction. And so the website, so what I do now is I do a lot of one on one, whether it’s a clarity call, it’s a $10 999 $10 call, we get on the call, and we just hash out any quick questions they have. Or you can hire me on retainer, I have a couple clients, I try to keep it small couple clients I have on retainer, where I’m able to review their contracts throughout the month, they contact me via text messaging software that we use voice messaging app as well. And they’re able to hey, here’s a quick screenshot, I got this email, how should I address this? Or hey, is this brand legit, like quick questions, and they can keep me kind of on call there. And I do host monthly master classes once a month. I made up it a few more times. But it kind of just depends on the demand of that month, it’s usually around kind of those similar things.
Christine Gautreaux 37:29
Did you just say that somebody can have your expertise for 999?
Kameron Monet 37:33
For a quick 2020 minutes, they get 20?
Christine Gautreaux 37:37
Hello, 20 minutes of you for 999?
Kameron Monet 37:41
I know, again, I’m trying to make it affordable. I’m not saying just go say okay, we said we were getting into September, we got an announcement. But um, for those calls a lot of times, especially because my services aren’t clear. Now, they will be very, very soon. But people usually ask like, what do you do? And how could you help me so it’s usually talking about that. And I’ll put a few little tidbits and then they can either hire me for a one on one contract consultation outside of me as a retainer, it’s just x amount of dollars per hour, I review the contract in or draft your contract. And then that’s that. And then if they want to come back, I can get them on the recurring basis, or they could just keep purchasing a one on one kind opportunity.
Christine Gautreaux 38:16
Thank you, thank you for your work in the world and for the accessibility because I know sometimes for creatives, you know, it is part of a stereotype. But I think part of it is true with creatives. Like they’re either really good at the creation, or they’re good at the business. Sometimes they’re not good at both, and you are an amazing person. It’s good at both. Thank you. So for people to be able to have access to you and that work in the world is such a gift. Like, yeah,
Kameron Monet 38:47
thank you because a lot of times I just I just understand, for me, it’s right now I’m able to I’m in a blessed place. I’m making money for being a creator. So me being able to charge a lot less for small, like consultations that I know it’s usually just like a quick question I can answer in that 20 minutes. They’re like, Wait, what are the LLC? I have YouTube videos but they’re maybe they don’t know where they are. They don’t want to find this one purchase that would get on a call and talk about it. Or maybe they have a quick question about hey, this brand. This is a they send me the brand’s name and they’re like, could you tell me this legit we do a quick search together. So now they know and they don’t have to come? Ask me again. Yes, I try to make it so it’s it’s you come to me but you’re not with me forever. I want you to learn I want you i My goal is to educate. And that’s the goal for creators law library to be a resource of free material of industry updates. If you have questions about how to get an agent, I intend on it being like this bigger thing it’s gonna take a minute, but that’s the goal is really just to be a resource kind of like we use Google but like where do we go for influencer marketing law or social media law updates on terms of conditions or how the heck do we read the terms and condition why do we need to read the terms and condition? How do I get an agent do I need an agent etc. So much so many questions in this influencer space still, I mean law and there’s no case law So it’s like free game right now. So I’m like, let me go ahead.
Christine Gautreaux 40:04
And you’re not. I mean, I haven’t been over I popped over there. And there’s a lot of videos I haven’t gotten to watch him yet. But I can already tell from talking to you, it’s not gonna be boring, dusty, looking through a book like this, I can tell already, like, it’s gonna be engaging, and you’re gonna want to learn about it. And yeah,
Kameron Monet 40:26
I want it to be of course educational first. But actually something you can apply and read and want to read. I when I was reading like law school books, some of them I get, you got to get through some of the legalese so I’m gonna have to have some of that, but also something that relates like, Hey, y’all did you just read that last chapter, you know, something, I want some in the future, I’m gonna curate something I don’t know it was a book or whatever it’s going to be but we’re, it’s like, you can have it and you can actually want to read it and relate to it where it makes sense. Like, I’m not using too many legalese. I’m just saying, y’all, or don’t do that. Or you need a contract. Like I don’t need to say, make sure that you read the guidelines in the proper light, you don’t undersell that exactly. Something very good point. And a lot of times, it’s quicker, and it’s faster. And people can relate to that. Because by the time you’re looking for a resource, you’re like, I’m looking for a resource. We’ve all been there. When we google something like GRE I just want to see the 123 steps. I’m not trying to read your whole life. So I’m trying to make where it’s quick, but also like fun and like relatable.
Christine Gautreaux 41:20
I love that. Well, I for 1am excited about what you’re about to launch in September, and I can’t I will be following and watching. Shannon, you look like you had a question.
Shannon M. 41:32
No, I’m good. I just had a I had an idea for the name of this book and different stuff. But we’ll talk about offline. You got to have the vision for bigger, you know, and this is the beginning. So I love the way it sounds. I’m I’m excited to watch it grow. Like I said,
Kameron Monet 41:49
Thank you, thank you. And I’m not afraid to share one, I think this is something I learned from law school, like you can give someone your outline. So we use outline, which is just like whatever the professor says, and a perfectly curated notes that you review for the exam, because we have one exam at the end of the semester. It’s crazy, I know. But we’re able to review these outlines that previous students that got great grades have curated and we can create our own from it and add additional notes, etc. But like, it’s something about like, it’s different, right? So you can have the outline, but then we make it your own and you rephrase it in ways that you can better understand. It’s going to be the same information, but I want to change it so you can understand you’re going to be able to ingest it a lot better. So yeah, that’s one thing I learned a lot. You can get the reasons but like, how can I get the law? Because the law is what the law is? How can I change that and make it where it’s applicable for anybody to read, understand. And no matter what, once I change it, that doesn’t guarantee I’m going to get the same grade just because the person that gave me their online got a and I change it or use the same one. It’s not the same outcome every single time so that you can get the same, we can look at the same painting and see some different,
Christine Gautreaux 42:57
right? Well, and I love that you give people the tools and the resources, and then they have access to you to ask questions, right? I mean, that’s huge. That is. So now for somebody like me, who has not followed you on social media. If we were to follow your channels, what would we what amazing brilliance, would we will we be exposed to? Oh, well,
Kameron Monet 43:24
a lot girl. On camera, Monet, my goal has changed a lot over there. My main thing is so you can see a view into the behind the scenes of how I’m running my business, how I’m starting my business, but giving you tidbits along the way. So like when I blog I share, okay, I’m doing a podcast interview, and I talk about what I’m talking about. And I give them some feedback on how I got this opportunity. So there if you’re a creator, it’s like, Wait, how did you get those podcasts interviews? So then I’m able to show that behind the scenes versus me just showing, Hey, y’all got a podcast, people are able to see like the blindfold behind like, Wait, how do you do that? Or if I’m working with a brand, and they see the final product of the picture of the video on Instagram, on my YouTube channel, I show how I created that content. So I try to show the behind the scenes to reveal like, once you see the finished product, yes, it’s fun, and it’s great. It’s exciting, but like it took me 12 hours and I had edited and then I had to delete it because I mess up the funnies and the lighting was off and all that. So I tried to show the behind the scenes, but also for me. It’s really a strategy. Like I didn’t realize until recently. It’s really a strategy because if I’m a creator and I’m struggling with a contract or working with brands, I see camera and like oh wait, she’s working with brands. I see her struggling just like I did. I was talking with my wife yesterday, too. And she’s an attorney and she told me my contracts. Wow, like I want to work with her because she really gets it. And then I also of course I just shared a real I try to like share fun information. And I try to share it like a fun kind of abnormal way, I guess like non lawyer way. But I was talking about contracts and I shared some information. I share email templates. Sometimes I just did a reel and it was basically like we don’t care. And in the caption I was saying how brands say oh wait, I’m creator. We’re not pay you that much we pay other creators this small amount and I’m like, we do not care and in the in the cache and I explained, a lot of creators charge various prices. So brands be on alert that just because one creator in the same following charges a little bit less doesn’t mean I should because of my expertise and all these things. And by me saying that now creators can see Wait, I’m also have an expert in this. I have a degree in this. I also had this experience, maybe I can figure out how to charge more and not just charge what someone said was charging because one of the same following. So know that.
Christine Gautreaux 45:30
For that 999 console for women Connect.
Kameron Monet 45:35
We can talk about it. I mean, I’ve done contracts, like I’ve worked with a model. I’ve worked with a news reporter. So it’s not just influencers because the term influencer is really new, really, it’s really new. But creators a little more broad crater can go across a lot of different spectrums. I help entrepreneurs work with brands. So if you’re entrepreneur and you’re like, Oh, I always work with QuickBooks, do they have an affiliate program, let’s talk about getting you set up. So you can get a little bit money from when you refer people to that. So there’s so many different avenues in the social media space. I love that.
Christine Gautreaux 46:03
And folks can follow you and hear about that like, Oh, fantastic.
Shannon M. 46:09
Thank you. Yes. Well, Cam, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your expertise and your experience with us. And yes, so this is a great point. Thank you, Christine, for that. So every week, we have a hashtag wisdom and action. And that’s one step that you’re going to take this week to improve the category of wellness in your life that we’re talking about. So I’ll go first with my wisdom and action. This week, I am actually catching up on my social media and my email marketing, so I can get it off the top of my head. Oh, I got to do it. I’m planning that tonight and checking it off of my planner. So that is my wisdom and action. What about you can
Kameron Monet 46:49
my wisdom and action I love this is I’m going to make realistic to do list. Like I was saying earlier, I am a workaholic. So sometimes I’m like, Oh, I can get 10 things done. But just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should do it. So even like today, I was like I know I want to give my all into the interview and I know how it’s draining for me sometimes I’m like, I gotta give it I love it. I do love it. But I’m I’m a lucky introvert. So I wanted to make it realistic, I have to be realistic about what I’m doing. Therefore I’m like, maybe you can do five things instead of 10 things. And I realized I need to do this throughout the rest of the week, which is going to be my wisdom and action.
Christine Gautreaux 47:22
Hmm, I love that. And I love you naming that even as an influencer and is out there as you are, you’re still a low key introvert. Because I think people get the false assumption that if you’re out in front of people, that you’re always an extrovert and that you don’t need to recharge or, or that if you’re an introvert, you can never do something like this, you could never have a podcast or you could never be have a YouTube video. And, and that’s just not true, like but you may have to build in some extra self care. My wisdom and action this week, I’m I’m in the middle of this big old conference and running my business. So what would be a good wisdom and action, I am going to schedule some break time in there. So I am going to schedule some break time because cam I’m with you. I try really hard not to be but hey, my name is Christine. And I’m like, because that is how I handled the stress of the pandemic, right. And I teach about self care community care. So when somebody interrupted me at that conference earlier, they gave my bio, I was like, Oh, I got to edit that. Because much if I’m telling you all about self care, and you just read off all this. So I am getting my wisdom and action is scheduling in some some downtime this week.
Kameron Monet 48:42
I love that. That’s so important. Yeah, I also think that’s what makes you relatable. Like when you read that. Listen, they’re like, You know what, I need to hear what she says about self care, because I’m busy too.
Christine Gautreaux 48:53
It’s easy to do self care, you’re not busy. It’s when those of us that are hustling, like how do we really, really do it? When we have a 12 hour day. And you know, and it may be like you said earlier, it’s those little things or incremental steps. And then it’s the building and larger things. I told Shannon before we got on the call. And you know, I’ve just had two conferences back to back and about to launch my youngest to college. And in this month. Yeah. So I’m taking four days off next week, which is almost unheard of. But I was like, yeah, not to schedule that time off, go away with my family, because we’re here. Yeah, we’re at this moment that we will never be the same configuration again. And so yeah, making time for that and, and scheduling it. So
Kameron Monet 49:41
I’m going to visit family this month too, and I almost canceled it. And I was like you know what, no, I can make the time I have the flexibility in my job to be remote. Let me take advantage of that.
Christine Gautreaux 49:50
Right. So well I have so loved this conversation. You know you and Shannon got to go to college together and your friends and hanging out But I am so excited to now follow you on social media and get to be one of your fans and watch the work you do in the world. I did want to put up for our listeners that if you want to reach Cameron Monae and take advantage of that 999 a consult, you can reach me at hello at Cameron monday.com. And we’ll put that in the show notes too. Oh, I would reach out and do it now. Because, well, we don’t know what’s happening at the end of September. So I don’t really reach out and do it. Now.
Kameron Monet 50:35
Definitely, do not be afraid to send me an email, give me four days since you always respond sometimes. And don’t be afraid to follow up. My schedule gets crazy, but I’m in the process of trying to hire and get some help. Again, with that wellness. Sometimes you don’t have to do it all yourself, Delegate delegate, and just kind of give yourself a break. Stay in your zone of genius and let others do what they got to do. But don’t be afraid to ask me any questions. I’m more than willing to help. Oh, thank
Christine Gautreaux 51:02
you so much for being here. And you know, we’re gonna have you back. So back here after September when you’re launching your new stuff, because it’s fun, and so delighted to talk with you today. Shannon, any closing words before we pop Cameron back into the green room?
Shannon M. 51:19
I was just gonna say thank you to and I’ll talk to you soon.
Kameron Monet 51:22
Thank y’all talk to y’all. Thank you so much.
Christine Gautreaux 51:24
Oh my gosh, how lucky are you that you got to go to college and be friends with that amazing human being?
Shannon M. 51:30
You know, these are the type of people Cameron is a type of person that inspired me of what women connected and wisdom could be like I said, I know this person, I know that person, we need to be connected. Let’s go ahead and do this. Because I know together what can be done.
Christine Gautreaux 51:45
I mean, I’m so excited to introduce her to my community because you know, I work with creatives all the time, and to have such a resource of Cameron who has this not this depth of knowledge and is hysterically funny like that. If you didn’t catch that from the voice, you got to watch the video. But you know, to have somebody like that in your corner. To have your back on legal is huge. Y’all huge. So I am so delighted. And all that good wisdom, like I know you already use some of it for a little glow. Tell us about our sponsor, my friend.
Shannon M. 52:24
Oh, yes. So Shiva glow is our sponsor for women connected in wisdom. And it is the beginning of the month. So Nominations are open again, ladies for our Shea room. If you have somebody in your community that has impacted your life impacted your community, but she might not be the best at taking time for her. So you can nominate her by emailing my shea Rhodes who Shayla glow@gmail.com and we will select the winner and she will get to enjoy your free gift from us and you to be able to take care of herself prioritize her self care and continue the work that she does in the world.
Christine Gautreaux 53:00
Oh, I love that so much. I love that you do that for our community. The other thing that you do for our community that we haven’t mentioned this show is if y’all head over to Shiloh glow, our listeners get a discount of wise five, you get a 5% off discount from anything you order, since they are a sponsor of wisdom, women connected in wisdom. So thank you for that too. Of course. Appreciate it. Yes. And
Shannon M. 53:25
if you guys like glass containers, definitely order now because we just have the last box and it will be the last box of the glass container for the shea butter. We’re going to be making some changes as well and I look forward to telling you about that. And in the meantime, ladies, we of course invite you back next week at five for our next show. We’ll see you soon.
Christine Gautreaux 53:52
See you soon evening.
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