We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful April Lewis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with April below.
Alright, April thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?
Growing up, I was never taught about the importance of Financial Literacy. When I graduated from high school and started my first year of college, I was offered all kinds of different credit cards. One by one, I began to open up new credit card accounts. At the time, I was working at Wal-Mart as an Optician and whenever I wanted to get my nails done, go shopping, buy something new for my apartment, etc. I would use my credit cards to pay for it. I had a good system going at first, making sure I paid at least the minimum payment by the due date, but eventually I got behind.
Unexpected expenses, such as major car repairs, replacing new tires, oil changes, etc. would come up, causing me not to have enough money to be able to pay towards all of my bills each month. I didn’t have any type of savings at all. So I stopped paying on all of my credit cards, and whenever they would call me, I would never answer the phone, because I simply didn’t have the money to pay them. Eventually, the accounts were closed out and charged off. This drastically damaged my credit score, and at the time, I wasn’t aware of how much harder my life would be because of the poor choices that I made.
As I got older, I realized all of the debts that I had accumulated over the years were being documented on my credit profile and it followed me everywhere I went. As a result, I had to pay 2 and 3 times the rent amount for the deposit, my car note was extremely high, I had to pay very high interest rates, I was constantly using my overdraft to get by, couldn’t get a loan, had to pay higher insurance premiums, etc. You get the idea…This is exactly why I believe the educational system should make it mandatory to teach our kids about the importance of financial literacy and explain what could happen to them if they don’t take care of their financial responsibilities.
Did you know nearly 6 in 10 Americans don’t have enough savings to cover a $500 or $1,000 unplanned expense, according to a news report from Bankrate. This is why so many Americans end up maxing out their credit cards, because they don’t have enough savings in place to cover unplanned expenses, causing them to go deeper into debt. Here’s another statistic: 1 in 4 Americans have a credit score of less than 650 according to nerdwallet.com. In order to prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career, the educational system should include mandatory courses related to savings, budgeting, good credit vs bad credit, how to leverage it, etc.
Our kids would be more financially literate and this would help them to avoid a lot of the same hardships we went through when we were younger. Until the educational system implement this, it is up to us parents to take it upon ourselves to become more financially literate by listening to financial podcasts, reading personal finance books, using social media, talking to a finance professional, etc, so we can then pass this knowledge on to our children so they can have a better future.
April, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a Financial Literacy Coach, Board Certified Credit Consultant, Corporate Auditor, as well as Business Mentor. I manage a company by the name of, “LL Credit & Financial Services LLC”, alongside my husband LaMario Lewis, where we both work closely together with individuals and families, helping them to establish excellent credit, and master financial literacy. I earned my BSA in Accounting from DeVry University and my MBA in Fraud & Forensic Accounting from Texas Wesleyan University. Together, my husband and I have over 10 years of experience in the financial services industry. We are very passionate about educating our community about the importance of having a great credit score and we also provide financial guidance. My husband and I have been guest speakers on a number of different platforms such as, Churches, Vision Board Parties, Podcasts, Facebook groups, Zoom Webinars, IG and Facebook Lives!
Our story began in January of 2018, our daughter was just ten months old at the time. My maternity leave had come to an end, I was starting a new job, and had to prepare to put my daughter into daycare. This was an extra expense that we had to make preparations for, so my husband started looking for work and had found a great opportunity to work for a local financial services company. He was more than qualified for the position and passed all three rounds of interviews with flying colors! The recruiter mentioned to him that all they would need to do is run a background check and credit check, and then he would be good to go.
We were very excited, because in our minds he already had the job. A few days later, the financial services company reached out to him and said that they found over $5,000 worth of old debt on his credit report and wanted him to pay off all of these items first, before considering him for the job opportunity. This hit us like a ton of bricks and we were devastated! There was no way we could afford to drop that kind of money so they could consider him for the position. Unfortunately, we had to pass on the opportunity. We both felt very defeated and couldn’t believe a low credit score and thousands of dollars of debt caused him to miss out on potentially bringing home an extra $60k a year!
That moment was a breaking point for both of us, and we began to shift our focus to addressing both of our credit issues. Credit restoration has opened up so many doors for me and my husband, including reaching the 700s club, which gave us the ability to refinance both of our vehicles, saving hundreds of dollars per month, also the ability to access multiple high-limit credit cards, as well as positioned us to CLOSE in 2021, on our brand new $300k home, built from the ground up. Today, not only do we help individuals & families nationwide restore their credit score, but we also teach them financial literacy, which is very important.
Our services include 1 on 1 Counseling, Credit Restoration, Credit Monitoring, Identity Theft Protection, Debt Pay Off, and Positive Trade-Lines for our clients to utilize to help boost their credit score even more. We are not just here to help you clean up your credit report, but we are here to educate you and to offer very valuable credit tips so you won’t have to go through this process again. We are most proud of the fact that we have positioned hundreds of clients nationwide to become first time homeowners, get approved for new cars/loans, obtain business funding and more all because they went through our program!
The very first step to Excellent Credit is to book your FREE Credit Consultation with April & LaMario Lewis Today!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Yes, let me just tell you, social media saved my life and really helped me to grow my business exponentially! Before building my audience on social media, I was trying to connect with people in the malls, at restaurants, networking events, etc. It was very awkward for me and it was challenging for me to make genuine connections that could turn into paying clientele. In 2019, I did some research on YouTube and came across my current mentor, Coach Legend. He is a 7- Figure Wealth Coach and Social Media Strategist with over 1 Million Followers on Instagram.
There are so many things that I learned from Coach Legend that were game changer for my business. One of the things he taught me was how to implement attraction marketing in my business. This involved providing valuable information for my followers, posting at least 3 times a day, taking professional photos as well as lifestyle pics, going live, traveling, sharing my story, and more! This positioned me to become the “Hunted’ instead of the “Hunter”.
I teach my Mentees everything that I learn from him, so they too can see growth in their businesses. We have to remember people do business with people that they “know, like, and trust”. My advice to anyone that’s in the process of building up your social media presence is to find you a mentor that specializes in Social Media Marketing, Strategies, and Techniques. This will really help cut down on the learning curve and the time it takes to grow your business.
I also recommend searching for marketing tips on YouTube, in regards to different ways you can grow your business on social media. If you are a business owner, it’s essential that you master marketing on social media because it’s easier now than ever to connect with people all over the world!
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Communication is “KEY”, when it comes to managing a team! It’s important to meet with your team at least 1-2 times a week. This gives your team members the opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns, share value, stay on track so they can reach their goals, and more. As the Leader/ Business Mentor, you can use this time to set expectations, set housekeeping rules, host trainings, and more. Without communication, people eventually clock out mentally, start doing their own thing, and become not as focused on the goal at hand.
To maintain high morale, I think it’s essential that you have ZERO tolerance for Negativity! This can be very contagious and can spread throughout your organization very quickly. Focus on promoting a very positive and supportive team environment. People should feel comfortable coming to their Leader/ Business Mentor directly to voice their concerns. Also, recognizing your team and showing appreciation is very important as well! Some examples would be wishing them a Happy Birthday, making someone MVP of the month, giving out awards, etc.
People will only stay motivated for so long, without receiving any type of acknowledgement or recognition. The last tip that I have is to spend genuine time with your team and create memories. Some examples would be to have lunch/dinner together, go bowling, travel together, golf together, laser tag, etc. All of these things help with cultivating a strong relationship with your team and help with attracting even more people to your organization!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://aprilfixmycredit.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamaprillewis
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAmAprilLewis
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UChKYRNkF9_oZkfj-D62URbQ
Image Credits
Stephanie Ali Mondrella Glenn